i'-;m 



jl,i-'V^,N...f- 






f V 

OF THK 

GENERAL CONYENTION 

OF THE 
GIVING 

ITS HISTORY AND CONSTITUTION, 1785-1880. 



BY. y» 

WILLIAM STEVENS PERRY, D.D., LL.D., 

BISHOP OF IOWA, 

LATE SECRETARr OF THE HOUSE OF DEPUTIES, AND HISTOBIUGBAFHEB 
OS* THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 



i 3^7 



'^-^i 



New Yoke : 

8 and 3, BIBLE HOUSE. 

1881. 




^■>-'t^> 



COPYKIGHT, 1881- 



T. TV^HITTJkKKR. 



TABLE OF COI^TENTS. 



Introduction xiii-xiv 

The Preliminary Meetings, 1784 1-7 

Minutes of informal Meeting at New-Brunswick, 1, 2 ; 
The " Broadside" Proceedings of October 6tli, 3, 4 ; Fun- 
damental Principles of Union, 4 ; Additional Particulars, 
5-7 ; Choice of Bisliop of Connecticut, 5 ; Clergy of 
Massachusetts and Rliode Island unwilling to take active 
Measures, 6 ; Appointment of Clerical Examiners recom- 
mended, 6 ; Notices of representative Men who were 
Members of the Preliminary Convention, 6, 7. 

The Convention of 1785 8-42 

Organization of Convention, 8 ; The Subject of Alte- 
rations in the Liturgy referred, 8 ; Action respecting, 
9-12 ; The " Fourth of July" to be observed, 10 ; Ap- 
pointment of an annual Day of '* Thanksgiving," 10 ; Ar- 
ticles as amended, referred to next Convention, 11 ; Bead- 
ing and Singing Psalms, and Kalendar of Lessons to be 
appended to Prayer-Book, 12 ; the " General Ecclesiastical 
Constitution," 12-15 ; Correspondence between Bishop 
Seabury and the Rev. Dr. White, 15-18 ; Address to the 
English Archbishops and Bishops asking for the Succession, 
18-22; Notices of the "Proposed Book," 22-25 ; The 
" Alterations" comprised in the " Proposed " Book, 25-34 ; 
The Proposed Articles of Religion, 34-39 ; The Table of 
Holy Days, 40 ; The Reception of the " Proposed Book," 
40, 41 ; Notices of Editions of this Work, 4l', 42. 

The Conventions of 1786 , . . . . 43-62 

The Convention in Philadelphia (June), 43-50 ; Organi- 
zation, 43 ; Opposition to Bishop Seabury, 43, 44 ; Address 
to the English Prelates, 44-46 ; Changes iji tlie Constitu- 



IV CONTEI^n'S. 

tion, 47, 49 ; Influence of a Memorial from New-Jersey, 
50 ; Letters from the Archbisliops, 50-56. 

The Adjourned Convention in Wilmington (Octo- 
ber), 56-61 ; " An Act of the General Copvention," 56-59 ; 
The Restoration of the omitted Clause in the Apostles' 
Creed, 50, 51 ; the Rejection of the Athanasian Creed, 51 ; 
The Refusal to sign the Testimonials of the Bishop -elect 
of Maryland, 60, 61 ; The Consecration of Bishops White 
and Provoost, 61, 62. 

The Conventions op 1789 63-77 

The Convention in Philadeli)hia (July), 63-71; The 
Application from the Clergy of Massachusetts and New- 
Hampshire for the Consecration of the Rev. Edward Bass, 
63-65 ; Resolutions adopted by the Convention respecting 
the Application, 65, 66 ; Further Proceedings, 66, 67 ; Ca- 
nons adopted at this Convention, 67-70 ; Death of the 
Bishop-elect of Virginia, 71. 

The Adjourned Convention in Philadelphia (Sep- 
tember and October). Union of the Churches, 71 ; Organi- 
zation of the two Houses, 71 ; Adoption of a Liturgy, 71- 
73 ; Further Proceedings, 73, 74 ; The Change of Art. 3 of 
the Constitution, 74, 75 ; Proposal of a full Negative on the 
lower House for the Bishops, 75 ; Record of the adhesion 
of Bishop Seabury and the New-England Deputies to the 
Constitution, 75 ; Views of the Bishop of Connecticut 
respecting the Athanasian Creed, 76 ; Misunderstanding as 
to the printing of the Clause in the Apostles' Creed, " He 
descended into Hell," 76, 77 ; The " Selections of Psalms," 
77. 

The Convention op 1792 78-88 

Organization, 78 ; The first American Consecration, 78 ; 
The Rule providing for the Presidency of the House of 
Bishops changed, 79 ; Action respecting the Comprehen- 
sion of the Methodists, 79-81 ; the first Missionary Docu- 
ment of the Church, 81, 82 ; Changes in the "Ordinal," 
82 ; Postponement of the consideration of the Articles of 
Religion, 82, 83 ; Information of the Accession of the Church 
in North-Carolina received, 83 ; Number of Clergy, 83. 



CONTE^TTS. V 

The Convention of 1795 84-88 

Organization, 84 ; Refusal of Testimonials of the Bishop- 
elect of Vermont, 84, 85 ; Action respecting " the Strictures 
on the Love of Power in the Prelacy," 85-88 ; Permission 
to place a "Protest" on record, denied, 87; Failure of 
Bishop-elect of North-Carolina to attend, 87, 88 ; Further 
-Measures adopted, 88, 

The Special Convention op 1799 89-95 

Circumstances attending the Call of this Convention, 89 ; 
The Testimonials of the Bishop-elect of New-Jersey referred 
back to the Diocesan Convention, 89, 90 ; Measures adopted, 
90 ; Articles of Religion published by order of the House 
of Deputies, 90-95. 

The Convention of 1801 96-103 

Organization, 96 ; Direct Refusal to sign the Testimonials 
of the Bishop-elect of New-Jersey, 96 ; Resignation of the 
Bishop (Provoost) of New- York, and Action relative to the 
Consecration of a Coadjutor, (B. Moore), 98-98 ; Action re- 
specting the " Articles," 98, 99 ; Adoption of the " XXXIX 
Articles" with the necessary Changes, 99-101 ; Bishop 
White's Opinion respecting the Articles, 101, 102 ; Defeat 
of Proposal requiring that Lay Deputies should be Com- 
municants, 102, 103. 

The Convention of 1804 . .104-107 

Change of the Time of Meeting, 104 ; Enactment of 
additional Canons, 105, 106 ; Adoption of Office of In- 
duction, 105 ; "Course of Ecclesiastical Studies" set forth, 
106; Action respecting the notorious " Ammi Rogers," 
106, 107 ; Provision for the closing Exercises of Con- 
vention, 107. 

The Convention of 1808 108-112 

A " full Negative" given to the House of Bishops, 108 ; 
Appeal from Ammi Rogers, and Action thereon, 108-110 ; 
Opinion of the House of Bishops respecting the Obligation 
of English Table of Degrees within which Marriage can 
not be celebrated, iiO ; Proposed Alteration of Art. 8 of the 
Constitution, 110, 111 ; A " Pastoral Letter" set forth, 111 ; 



VI CONTENTS. 

Associated Rectorsliips disapproved, 111 ; Hymns added, 
111 ; Title of Office of Induction changed, 111 ; Concur- 
rent Resolutions respecting the Burial of Duellists and the 
Marriage of Divorced Persons, 111, 112 ; Comments of 
Bishop White, 113. 

The Convention op 1811 113-115 

Ratification of Constitutional Provision (Art. 8) respect- 
ing Changes in Prayer-Book and Offices, 113 ; Consecration 
of Bishops-elect delayed, 113 ; Failure of Measures for the 
Choice and Support of a Western Missionary Bishop, 113, 
114 ; Modification of Rule respecting Burial of Duellists, 
114; The " State of the Church," 114; Circumstances at- 
tending the Consecration of Bishops Hobart and Griswold, 
114, 115. 

The Convention of 1814 116-120 

Evidences of new Life, 116 ; Decision with respect to 
the Effect of the Removal of a Deputy after Election, 
116 ; The Holy Communion made a Part of the Opening 
Services of Conventions, 116 ; The Republication of the 
Journals ordered, 116, 117 ; The Condition of the Church at 
the South, 117 ; Opinion of the Bishops respecting clerical 
Dress, 117 ; Standing recommended during the singing of 
Psalms or Hymns, 117, 118 ; Refusal of Bishops to sanc- 
tion a devotional Work, 118 ; Identity with the Cliurch of 
England declared, 118, 119 ; Opinion of the Bishops re- 
specting the Manner of receiving into the Church "Per- 
sons not baptized within its Pale," 119 ; A Pastoral Letter 
set forth, 120. 

The Convention of 1817 121-123 

Organization of a Theological Seminary determined 
upon, 121 ; Expression of Disapprobation of worldly and 
licentious Amusements, 121, 122 ; Designation of a Stand- 
ard Bible requested, 122 ; French Prayer-Book set forth, 

122 ; Catechetical Instruction and Lectures enjoined, 122, 

123 ; The State of the Church encouraging, 123. 

The Convention of 1820 124-127 

Admission of Maine into Union, 124 ; Change of Loca- 
tion of General Seminary from New- York to New-Haven 



CONTENTS. Vll 

determined upon, 134 ; Opinion of the Bishops respecting 
private Baptisms and Qualifications of Sponsors solicited, 
124 ; Standard Prayer-Book established, 124, 125 ; " Offices" 
declared " of equal Authority with the Book of Common 
Prayer," 125 ; Formation of a Missionary Society deter- 
mined upon, 125 ; Discussion respecting the opening Ser- 
mon, 126 ; Bishop White's view respecting Baptismal Re- 
generation, 126 ; View of the Bishops respecting the offi- 
ciating in our Churches of Persons not regularly ordained, 
126, 127 ; The Church extending, 127. 

The Special Convention of 1821 128-133 

Occasion of this Session, 128 ; Transfer of the General 
Seminary to New-York, and its Organization, 128, 129 ; 
The Constitution of the Missionary Society perfected, 129 ; 
Opinion of the Bishops concerning the last Rubric in the 
Communion Service, 129-132 ; Recommendation of the 
Missionary Society, 132, 133. 

The Convention op 1823 134-136 

Reception of Georgia into Union, 134 ; Canons enacted, 
134 ; The General Seminary commended to the Support 
of the whole Church, 135 ; The Supply of Clergy insuffi- 
cient, 135 ; Action respecting Affiliation with Societies of 
a political Character, 135 ; Original Editions of the Jour- 
nals presented by Bishop White, 136. 

The Convention of 1826 137-141 

Bishop Hobart's Resolutions respecting abbreviated 
Services, 137-139 ; Action thereon, 139, 140 ; Resolution 
respecting the Authority of the Psalms and Hymns, 140 ; 
Proposal to put the Articles on the same Footing with the 
Prayer-Book in respect to Alterations, 141 ; Canon requir- 
ing three Years' Candidateship previous to Ordination, 
141. 

The Convention op 1829 142-144 

Notice of Members of the House of Deputies, 142 ; Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee admitted into Union, 142 ; Applica- 
tion for the Consecration of Rev. William Meade as "As- 
sistant or Suffragan," 142 ; The constitutional Change re- 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

specting Alterations of the Articles adopted, 142, 143 ; 
Bishop Hobart's Resolutions withdrawn, 143 ; Notices of 
the State of the Church, 143 ; Provision for Expenses, 
144 ; Canons enacted, 144. 

The Convention of 1832 145-152 

The Resignation of the Bishop of Ohio (P. Chase), 145 ; 
Action of the two Houses thereon, 145-147 ; the " Pre- 
siding Bishop," 147 ; Opinion of the Bishops respecting 
Postures in the Communion OflSce, 147-149 ; a " Declara- 
tion" concerning an Error in one of the Prayer-Book 
Oflaces, 149 ; Changes in the Rubrics proposed, 150 ; The 
Revision of the Canons, 150 ; " Ratification" of the Selec- 
tions from the Psalms in Metre, 150, 151 ; Admission of 
Alabama and Michigan into Union, 151 ; Defeat of Pro- 
posal to make the Representation in the House of Depu- 
ties depend upon the number of Clergy in the various 
Dioceses, 151, 152 ; The " South- Western Diocese," 152. 

The Convention of 1835 153-155 

Illinois admitted into Union, 153 ; Constitution of Board 
of Missions adopted, 153 ; Missionary Bishops elected, 
153, 154 ; Conservator of Documents appointed, 154 ; 
Recommendations of Bishops advising discontinuance 
of Lord's Prayer and Collect before Sermon, and advi- 
sing the saying of the Confession with the Minister, 
and regulating the Mode of printing of the " Amen" in 
certain cases, 154 ; Division of Dioceses provided for, 154 ; 
The word right in place of north adopted in the Rubric 
before the Commission Office, 155 ; Grateful acknowledg- 
ment of the presence of Bishop White, 155. 

The Convention of 1838 156-158 

The Decease of the Presiding Bishop, 156 ; Admission 
of Indiana, Florida, and Louisiana into Union, 156 ; The 
Division of the Diocese of New-York ratified, 156 ; Pro- 
posed Changes in the Constitution, 157 ; Correspondence 
with Foreign Prelates, 157 ; Rules to be observed in 
printing the Book of Common Prayer, 157, 158 ; Historio- 
graphers appointed, 158 ; Canons adopted, 158. 



CONTENTS. ix 

The Convention op 1841 159-163 

Missouri admitted into Union, 159 ; Election of Mis- 
sionary Bishops, 159 ; The Provision of more ample Free 
Sittings recommended, 159, 160 ; Contested seats, 160 ; 
Majority and Minority Reports respecting the requirement 
of Six Months' Candidateship of Ministers of tlie Denomi- 
nations applying for Orders, 160-162 ; Election of a Bishop 
for Louisiana, 162 ; Recommendation respecting Missions 
to the Jews, 162 ; Christian Education in Church 
Institutions commended, 162 ; Action respecting Mar- 
riages prohibited by the Law of God, 163 ; Correspond- 
ence with the Archbishop of Canterbury and other Bish- 
ops, 163. 

Th j: Convention of 1844 164-178 

Comments of Bishop Burgess respecting this Session, 
164, 165 ; Article 10 added to the Constitution, 166 ; Ac 
tion of the House of Deputies respecting the Oxford 
Movement, 166-171 ; Reference of the Testimonials of the 
Bishop -elect of Mississippi to the Diocesan Convention, 
171 ; Opinion of the Bishops respecting the six months' 
probation required of Ministers applying for Holy Orders, 
171, 172 ; Recommendation concerning the Paper on which 
portions of the Prayer Book should be printed, 172 ; The 
Meeting of the Convention in places other than Churches 
advised, 172, 173 ; Precedent as to the excusing Members 
from voting, and granting permission to enter their rea- 
sons on the Journal, 173 ; Choice of Missionary Bishop of 
Cape Palmas, 173, 174 ; Form of Foreign Missionary Bish- 
op's testimonial, 174 ; Proposal for Reduction of Number 
of Deputies to General Convention, 174 ; Continuance of 
the Session of the House of Bishops after the Adjourn 
ment of the House of Deputies, 174, 175 ; the Resigna- 
tion and Suspension of the Bishop of Pennsylvania, 
175-177 ; Visitation of the General Theological Seminary, 
177, 178. 

The Convention of 1847 179-181 

Wisconsin admitted into Union, 179 ; Suspension of the 
Bishop of New-York, 179 ; Canonical Enactments, 179, 



X * CONTENTS. 

180 ; Canon of Suffragan Bisliops referred, 180 ; Mode of 
Appointment of Supplemental Deputies, 180 ; Refusal to 
sign the Testimonials of the Assistant Bisliop-elect of 
Illinois, 180, 181. 

The Convention of 1850 182-184 

Canonical enactments, 183 ; Texas admitted into Union, 
182 ; Canon of Suffragan Bisliops postponed, 183 ; Resig- 
nation of the Missionary Bishop to Turkey accepted, 183 ; 
The Missionary work recommended to the support of the 
Church, 183 ; Election of Dr. Payne as Missionary Bishop 
to Africa, 183 ; Action respecting Lay Helpers, 183 ; Reso- 
lution concerning the Provincial System, 183, 184 ; Rights 
of Bishops on Visitations, 184. 

The Convention of 1853 185-196 

The Deposition of the Bishop of North-Carolina, 185- 
187 ; Canonical Enactments, 187, 188 ; Iowa admitted into 
Union, 188 ; Missionary Bisliops appointed for California 
and Oregon, 188 ; The " Memorial " in favor of Liturgical 
Relaxation and Church Comprehension, 188-191 ; Report 
concerning the Interposition of the Civil Courts in the 
Administration of Discipline, 192, 193 ; The Question of 
the Provincial System referred, 194 ; Passage of a Canon 
under the Provision of Art. 3 of the Constitution, 194, 
195 ; Proposed Amendments to the Constitution, 196. 

The Convention of 1856 197-201 

California admitted into Union, 197 ; Action of the 
House of Bishops on the " Memorial," 197, 198 ; the 
" Tune Book," 198, 199 ; Canons enacted, 199, 200 ; Re- 
mission of the Sentence of Suspension passed on the 
Bishop of Pennsylvania, 200, 201 ; The Nomination of a 
Missionary Bishop of Nebraska not confirmed, 201 ; Deci- 
sion that a Question lost by non-concurrence of Orders is 
not determined in the Negative, 201 ; Refusal to accept 
the Resignation of the Bishop of Illinois, 201. 

The Convention of 1859 202-208 

Minnesota and Kansas admitted into Union, 202 ; The 
Episcopate made coextensive with the limits of the United 



C0NTENTS. Xi 

States, 202 ; Appointment of a Lay Committee, 202, 203 ; 
Canons adopted, 203 ; Importance of Christian Education 
recognized, 204 ; Action of the House of Deputies con- 
cerning the " Memorial," 204, 205 ; Systematic Offerings 
commended, 206 ; Need of more Laborers expressed, 206 ; 
Action referring to Church Music, 206-208. 

The Convention op 1862 209-217 

Action respecting the State of the Country, 209-211 ; 
Order of Public Worship on the Day of Fasting, Humilia- 
tion, and Prayer, 211-214 ; Committees appointed, 214, 215 . 
Standard Bible recommended, 215 ; Change of Boundaries 
of Dioceses, 215-217 ; The Pastoral, 217. 

The Convention op 1865 218-229 

Presence of the Metropolitan of Canada and other Digni- 
taries, 218 ; Division of Pennsylvania, 219 ; The Reunion 
of the Church, 219 ; The Reception of the Bishop of 
Alabama, 219 ; Federate Councils allowed, 219 ; Additional 
Hymns licensed, 219, 220 ; The List of Communicants, 220 ; 
Resolution respecting the Eastern Churches, 220 ; Desig- 
nation of Dioceses, 220, 221 ; Recommendation respecting 
Postures at Baptism and Confirmation, 221 ; Service of 
Thanksgiving for the Restoration of Peace, 221-224 ; 
Election of Bishops, 224 ; Resolutions on Christian Educa- 
tion, 224, 225 ; On Missions, 225, 226 ; Authority of Rubric 
at the end of the Metrical Hymns, 226, 227 ; Alleged 
Typographical Errors in the Table of Proper Psalms for 
Certain Days, 227-229. 

The Convention op 1868 230-243 

Nebraska admitted into Union, 230 ; Maryland, New- 
York, and Western New- York divided, 230 ; Membership 
of the Board of Missions increased, 230 ; Grammatical Inac- 
curacy in the " Invocation," 231, 232 ; Recommendation of 
the Bishops as to the Collect, Epistle, and Grospel to be read 
when a Sunday and Holy Day come together, 232 ; Reports 
on the Conduct of Public Worship (majority), 232-234 ; 
(minority), 234-236 ; Action thereon, 236, 237 ; Memorials 
respecting the Use of the Prayer Book, 238 ; Resolutions 
on Christian Education, 238, 239 ; Missionary Resolutions, 



Xll CONTENTS. 

239 ; Maintenance of tlie Clergy, 239 ; Action respecting 
Hymnody, 289, 240 ; Establishment of an Indian Mission- 
ary Jurisdiction, 240 ; Resolutions of tlie Bishops on the 
Lambeth Conference, 240-242 ; Canon of Divorce, 243. 

The Convention of 1871 244-273 

Presence of the Lord Bishop of Lichfield and other 
Dignitaries of the English Church, 244, 245 ; Report of the 
Committee of the House of Bishops on Ritual, 245-250 ; 
Action of the House of Deputies thereon, 250-262 ; Speech 
of the Rev. Dr. De Koven, of Wisconsin, 262-264 , Declara- 
tion of the Bishops in Council on the Meaning of the Word 
" Regenerate," 264-266 ; The Chicago Fire, 266 ; Adoption 
of the Hymnal, 267, 268 ; Typographical Error in Art. 2 of 
the Constitution, 268, 269 ; Removal of Constitutional 
Restrictions upon the Division of Dioceses, 269 ; Arkansas 
admitted into Union, 269 ; Revision of the Canons on Theo- 
logical Education, 269 ; Adoption of a Standard Prayer 
Book, 270 ; Establishment of the Boundaries of the Juris- 
diction of Niobrara, 270 ; The Jubilee of the Missionary 
Society, 270; Report of the Committee on the State of 
the Church, 271 ; The Institution of an Order of Evange- 
lists, and the Organization of the Services of Christian 
Women, 271 ; The Increase of Missionary Bishops recom- 
mended, 271, 272; Action of the Bishops concerning the 
New Translation of the Bible, 273; The Alt-Catholic 
Movement, 272 ; The Provincial System, 272 ; Canons 
adopted, 273. 

The Convention of 1874 274-801 

Increased Attendance, 274 ; The Opening Services, and 
Sermon by Bishop Selwyn, 275, 6 ; Organization of the Two 
Houses, 276, 7 ; The Refusal to confirm the Election of the 
Rev. Dr. Seymour to the Episcopate of Illinois, 277, 8 ; Doc- 
trinal Positions and Statements of the Bishop-elect, 278-280 ; 
The late Rev. Dr. Andrews's Summary of the Result, 281 ; 
The Canon on Ritual, 281, 2 ; Reversal of Previous Preced- 
ent respecting the Constitutional " Three Days" allowed 
the House of Bishops for determining with respect to any 
Measure proposed by the Lower House for Joint Ac- 
tion, 282, 3 ; Adoption of Amendment to Article 4 of the 



CONTENTS. Xlll 

Constitution, 283 ; Proposed Changes to be acted upon 
finally in 1877, 283, 4 ; Relations with the Canadian 
Church, 284 ; Change of Title of the Lower House, 285 ; 
Republication of Journals ot Early Conventions, 285, 6 ; The 
Question of the FUioque, 286; The Hymnal, 286, 7 ; Short- 
ened Services and Separation of Services, 287, 8 ; The Lam- 
beth Conference, 288 ; German Version of the Book of Com- 
mon Prayer, 289, 90 ; Proposed Relaxation of Rubrics in 
Baptismal Office, 290 ; Canon on Church Music, 291 • Ques- 
tions referred to next Convention, 291, 2 ; Creation of 
New Dioceses, 292 ; Covenant with the Haitien Church, 
292-5 ; Action respecting the Defection of the late Assistant 
Bishop of Kentucky, 295-7 ; Standing Orders respecting 
Election of a Bishop or Confirmation of a Bishop-elect, 

297, 8 ; Minute respecting the decease of Bishop Payne, 

298, 9 ; Christian Education, 299 ; The Old-Catholic Move- 
ment, 299-300 ; Report on State of the Church, 300, 1. 

Convention of 1877 302-820 

Meeting in Boston, 302 ; large representation, 302 ; pres- 
ence of Rev. Crauf urd Tait, 303 ; Admission of New Dio- 
ceses, 303, 304 ; Defeat of Proposed Amendments to the 
Constitution, 304 ; Changes in Constitution and Canons, 
304-313 ; Resolution on Christian Education, 313, 314; Ac- 
tion respecting Missionary Bishopric of New Mexico and 
Arizona, 314 ; Report on the Force of Joint Resolutions, 
314-317 ; Matters alluded to in Report of the Committee on 
the State of the Chnrch, 318 ; Closing Words of Report, 
318, 319 ; Close of Pastoral Letter, 319, 320. 

Convention of 1880 321-336 

Attendance of Bishop of Edinburgh and Bishop Herzog, 
321 ; Place of Meeting, 321 ; Prominence given to Mission- 
ary Work and Organization, 322 ; Increase of Missionary 
Episcopate, 322 ; Advantages of the two Houses sitting to- 
gether, 323 ; The Observance of the Approaching Centen- 
nial of the Organization of the Church, 324 ; Report on 
the Functions of Rectors, and Wardens and Vestrymen, 
325 ; Changes in the Canons, 327 ; Provision for Shorten- 
ed Services, 327 ; Powers of Federate Council in Hlinois, 



XIV CONTENTS. 

328 ; Committee on Liturgical Enricbment, 329 ; Action 
respecting Polygamy and the Protection of the Indians, 
330 ; Addition of the " Evangelical Hymns" to the Hym- 
nal, 330 ; Changes in Boundaries of Western Sees, 331 ; 
the New Lectionary, 331 ; Minute respecting Resignation 
of Bishop of Michigan, 331 ; Covenant with the Church in 
Mexico, 331 ; other Matters under Discussion, 336 ; the 
Pastoral, 336. 

Convention of 1883 337-340 

Appendix T 341-355 

Summaries of Statistics of Church Progress, 1829-1880 
inclusive, 341-355. 

Appendix II 356-363 

Rules of Order of the House of Bishops, 356-359 ; Rules 
of Order of the House of Deputies, 360-363. 

Appendix III ... 364-365 

Declaration of the House of Bishops, 1880, respecting a 
Declaration of the Lambeth Conference of 1878. . .364-365 



IFTEODUOTIOK 



At the preliminary meeting in 1784 for the 
organization of the American Church, severed 
from the mother Church of England, by the change 
in the political condition of the state, it was de- 
termined as one of the " fundamental articles" of 
the proposed union " that there shall be a General 
Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United 
States of America." In 1789, when the present 
Constitution of the American Church was adopted, 
the lirst Article of this instrument provided for 
the triennial meeting of the Church in General 
Convention, and, on the appearance of a representa- 
tion of "this Church, in a majority of dioceses 
which shall have adopted this Constitution," for its 
proceeding to business. At all meetings of the 
Church in General Convention " the Church in each 
Diocese" is entitled to a representation of both the 
dergy and the laity, not exceeding four of each 
order. The Bishops of the Church form a sepa- 
rate House, and the concurrence of both Houses is 
necessary to give validity to any legislation. To 



16 INTKODUCTIO^'. 

the Church in General Convention belongs the 
right to propose, and, at the subsequent meeting, 
to ratify, changes in the Constitution ; in the Boole 
of Common Prayer or other Offices of the Church; 
and in the Articles of Keligion. The Church may 
enact canons, which are of obligation on the whole 
body of the faithful, at any meeting in General 
Convention. It provides in the Constitution of its 
representative body for the trying of Bishops by a 
Court composed of Bishops only ; it prescribes a 
form of declaration to be subscribed prior to ordi- 
nation ; for the provision of Bishops for foreign 
countries; and for the erection of dioceses. Other 
matters of temporary or lasting interest come 
within its cognizance at these triennial meetings ; 
and it is the purpose of this volume to trace, 
briefly and yet with sufficient fulness, the various 
measures which have from time to time occupied 
the attention of this representative body of the 
American Church. The increasing difficulty of 
procuring sets of the Journals of General Conven- 
tions renders the provision of some such manual 
desirable. It is to supply this acknowledged want 
that tl>e present volume has been prepared. 



THE PEELIMINAEY MEETINGS, 1784. 

A SINGLE sheet of foolscap, faded and yellow 
with age, contains the records of the preliminary 
gathering of clergy and laity, out of which grew 
the independent organization of the American 
Church. These minutes, without preface or sig- 
nature, but bearing the attestation of the venerable 
Bishop White that they were in the handwriting of 
the Rev. Benjamin Moore, afterwards Bishop of 
l^ew-York, are appended to a record of a meeting 
of the " Corporation for the Relief of Widows and 
Orphans of Clergymen of the Church of England," 
in Pennsylvania, ]S"ew-Jersey, and I^ew-York. 
They are a fitting introduction to the history of 
the Conventions of which they detail the initiatory 
steps. We copy them from the original ms. as 
preserved among the Bishop "White papers in the 
archives of the General Convention. They are as 
follows : 

At New Brunswick, Tuesday, 11 May, 1784, several Members 
of the Episcopal Church, both of tlie Clergy & Laity, from the 
States of New York, New Jersey & Pennsylvania were assembled 
together ; present, Tlie Rev^ D"" White, Rev*^ D"" Magaw, Rev* 
M": Beach, Rev* M^ Bloomer, ReV^ M^ Frazer, Rev"^ M'^ Ogden, 
Rev* M^ Black well, ReV^ M' Boden, Rev* M"- Benj" Moore, 
Rev* M' Tho^ Moore, James Parker, John Stevens, John Den- 
nis, Esquires, Col. Hoyt, & Col. Furman. 

It was agreed that the Rev* Mess" Beach, Bloomer, & B. 



5i THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Moore be requested to wait upon tlie Clergy of Connecticut, 
wlio are to be convened on tbe Wednesday in Trinity Week 
next ensuing, for the Purpose of soliciting their Concurrence 
with us in such Measures as may be deemed conducive to the 
Union & Prosperity of the Episcopal Churches in the States of 
America. 

Also agreed by the Gentlemen present, that the undermen- 
tioned Persons be requested to correspond with each other, & 
with any other Persons, for the Purpose of forming a Conti- 
nental Representation of the Episcopal Church, & for the 
better Management of other Concerns of the said Church. 

Rev*^ Megs'"* Bloomer, Provoost, & B. Moore for New York. 

Eev*^ Megs'"* Beach, Ogden, & Ayres for New Jersey. 

Kev* D' White, D"^ Magaw, & M'^ Blackwell for Pennsylvania. 

Any one of which Persons of each State respectively, to cor- 
respond with the others, without consulting his Colleagues of 
the same State, whenever it may be deemed expedient.* 

The " Corporation for "the Kelief of Widows 
and Orphans" had appointed " the Tuesday after 
the Feast of St. Michael next ensuing," as the 
time of their meeting, which was to be held in the 
city of ]^ew-York, and by connnon consent there 
gathered at the same time the leading clergy and 
laity from various portions of the land. A sin- 
gle " Broadside " sheet gives the journal of their 
proceedings. It is of sufficient interest to be re- 
printed in full as one of the rarest, as well as most 
interesting, documents of our ecclesiastical histoiy : 



* Endorsed by Bishop White as follows : " The Original of 
y« Minutes of y« Meeting in N. Brunswick in May 1784 : in 
ye Hand Writing of j" rev*^ Benjamin (since Bp.) Moore of N. 
York." The correspondence between the Rev. Abraham 
Beach, at whose suggestion this meeting was held, and the 
Rev. Dr. White, is printed in full in Perry's Reprint of Jour- 
nals of General Conventions, 1785-1835, III., pp. 8-13. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. o 

At a Convention of Clergymen ajul Lay Deputies of the Pro- 
testanfEvi^covKL \ CnvmciLm tJie United States of Ameiica, Jield 
in New- York, October Qth \ andlth, 1784 : Present as follows; \ 

Revd. Samuel Parker, A.M., Massachusetts and Rhode- 
Island, I Revd. John R. Marshal, A.M., Connecticut. | 

NEW-YORK. 

Revd. Samuel Provoost, A.M. Revd. Thomas Moore, 
Revd. Abraham Beach, A.M. Hon. James Duane, 
Revd. Benjamin Moore, A.M. Marinus Willet, ) 
Revd. Joshua Bloomer, A.M. John Alsop, ) Esquires. 

Revd. Leonard Cutting, A.M. 

NEW-JERSEY. 

Revd. UzAL Ogden, John Chetwood, Esquire, 

John de Hart, Esquire, Mr. Samuel Spragg. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Revd. William White, D.D. Richard Willing, \ 
Revd. Samuel Magaw. D.D. Samuel Powell, >• Esquires. 
Rev. Joseph Hutchins, A.M. Richard Peters, ) 
Matthew Clarkson, Esquire. 

DELAWARE STATE. 

Revd. Sydenham Thorn, Revd. Charles Wharton, 

Mr. Robert Clay. | 

MARYLAND. 

Revd. William Smith, D.D. 

N.B. The Revd. Mr. Griffith, from the State of Virginia, 
was present by Permission. The Clergy of that State being 
restricted | by Laws yet in force there, were not at liberty to 
send Delegates, or consent to any Alterations in the Order, 
Government, Doctrine, or j Worship of the Cliurch. ( 



4: THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

THE Body now assembled, recommend to the Clergy and 
Congregations | of tlieir Communion in the States repre- 
sented as above, and propose to | those of the other States not 
represented, That as soon as they shall | have organized or 
associated themselves in the States to which they respectively | 
belong, agreeably to such Rules as they shall think proper, 
they unite in a general | ecclesiastical Constitution, on the fol- 
lowing fundamental Principles. | 

I. That there shall be a general Convention of the Episcopal 
Church in the | United States of America. | 

II. That the Episcopal Church in each State, send Deputies 
to the Convention, | consisting of Clergy and Laity. | 

III. That associated Congregations in two or more States, 
may send Deputies [ jointly. | 

IV. That the said Church shall maintain the Doctrines of the 
Gospel as now | held by the Church of England ; and shall 
adhere to the Liturgy of the | said Church as far as shall be 
consistent with the American Revolution, | and the Constitu- 
tions of the respective States. | 

V. That in every State where there shall be a Bishop duly 
consecrated and settled, | he shall be considered as a Member 
of the Convention, ex Officio. \ 

VI. That the Clergy and Laity assembled in Convention, 
shall deliberate in one | Body, but shall vote seperately ; and 
the Concurrence oi both shall be | necessary to give Validity 
to every Measure. | 

VII. That the first Meeting of the Convention shall be 
at Philadelplda the | Tuesday before the Feast of St. Michael 
next ; to Avhich it is hoped and | earnestly desired. That the 
Episcopal Churches in the respective States, | will send their 
Clerical and Lay Deputies, duly instructed and authorized | 
to proceed on the necessary Business herein proposed for their 
Deliberation. | 

Signed hy Order of the Convention, \ 

William Smith, D.D., President. '^- \ 



* Reprinted verbatim et literatim from Bishop White's copy 
of " the short printed account of the proceedings of this meet- 
ing," which the Bishop tells us in his "Memoirs of the 
Church" (second edition, p. 80), "was in very few hands at 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 5 

Among the archives of the General Convention 
there is a paper endorsed by Bishop White " as in 
y® Hand writing of Dr. William Smith, who pre- 
sided," containing a few additional particulars with 
reference to this preliminary meeting. From this 
paper we learn that letters were read from the 
clergy of Massachusetts and Connecticut, the pur- 
port of which may be gathered from references 
to them in Bishop White's " Memoirs of the 
Church," and in the case of the commimications 
from the clergy of Massachusetts and Ehode Island, 
from the original mss., which are still preserved 
among the archives of the General Convention.* 
The Connecticut clergy, with the co-operation of 
some of their brethren in ITew-York, had already 
taken measures for organization and for securing 
the Episcopal office. Immediately on the prospect 
of peace, ten of the clergy remaining in Connecticut 
had convened at Woodbury and made choice of the 
Kev. Samuel Seabury, D.D., as their Bishop, and 
sent him abroad for consecration, with instructions 
to seek it first from the Bishops of the Mother 
Church of England, and, in the event of failure, to 
apply to the Bishops of the Church in Scotland. 
Pending the success of this application, the Con- 
necticut clergy were unwilling to proceed further 

the time, and is probably at this time generally destroyed and 
lost." A limited edition (twenty-five only in number) of & fac- 
simile of this " Broadside " was issued in Philadelphia in 1863, 
copies of which can be distinguished with difficulty from the 
two or three " originals" which still exist. 

* Vide Bishop White's " Memoirs of the Church" (second 
edition), pp. 80, 81 ; and Perry's " Reprint of Early Jour- 
nals," III., pp. 62-66. 



6 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

in the attempt to reorganize the Churcli, while 
their bretliren of Massachusetts and Khode Island, 
though appointing the Rev. Samuel Parker, of 
Boston, as their delegate to the meeting in 'New- 
York, were unwilling to empower their representa- 
tive with any further authority than " to deliberate 
and propose." The " Fundamental Principles," 
adopted at this preliminary meeting, were pre]3ared 
by a committee consisting of the Rev. Drs. Smith 
and White, the Rev. Messrs. Parker and Provoost, 
and Messrs. Clarkson, De Hart, Clay, and Duane ; 
and this same committee were instructed to propose 
"a proper substitute for the State Prayers in the 
Liturgy," to be adopted for temporary use, but 
neither the printed nor the ms. records in our 
hands furnish any evidence that this duty was 
performed. It was, how^ever, recommended that a 
committee of Clerical Examiners should be ap- 
pointed in each State to consider the application of 
persons desirous of officiating as lay readers, and 
the congregations were advised not to suffer any 
layman to officiate in their churches without the 
certificate of these Examiners that they were duly 
qualified. This was a matter of vital importance 
at this time, when scores and even hundreds of 
churches were destitute of clerical ministrations. 
Measures so practical and evincing such prudence 
and care prove that it was under a profound sense 
of the danger threatening their beloved church 
that the clergy and laity, forming this preliminary 
Convention, addressed themselves to their task, 
and few as their numbers were, their faith and zeal 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 7 

reaped an abundant reward. Of the Clergy 
present, fonr, White, Provoost, Moore, and Parker, 
became Bishops of the Church their labors helped to 
perpetuate ; three. Smith, Griffith, and Ogden, were 
Bishops-elect but were never consecrated ; while 
one, Wharton, a recent convert from the Clmrch of 
Rome, was an unsuccessful candidate for this high 
office. The laitj, fewer still in number, were men 
of note and reputation, and it was a fair augury 
for the future of the Church that even in this its 
darkest hour such worthy and reputable represen- 
tative men were found ready to further her for- 
tunes or share her fate. 



THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



THE CO:N^YE]SrTION OF 1785. 

By the first of tlie "Fundamental Principles" 
agreed upon at the gathering in October, 1784, it 
was determined " that there shall be a General 
Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United 
States of America," and the seventh of these 
" Principles" designated Philadelphia as the place, 
and " the Tuesday before the Feast of St. Michael " 
as the time, of the first meeting. At the time 
appointed, September 27th and 28th, 1785, sixteen 
of the Clergy and twenty-six of the Laity, thirteen 
of whom were from Pennsylvania and six from 
Delaware, met and organized by the choice of the 
Eev. Dr. White as President, and the Eev. David 
Griffith, subsequently Bishop-elect of Virginia, as 
Secretary. The " Fundamental Principles" of 
1784 were considered and formally approved, with 
the exception of the fourth, instead of which a 
resolution was adopted — 



" That a Committee be appointed, consisting of one clerical 
and one lay deputy from tlie Church in each State, to consider 
of and report such alterations in the Liturgy, as shall render it 
consistent with the American Revolution and the Constitutions 
of the respective States : and such further alterations in the 
Liturgy as it may be advisable for this Convention to recom- 
mend to the consideration of the Church here represented." 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 9 

The sixth " Fundamental Principle" was ex- 
plained as meaning that the Deputies were to vote 
by States and not individually. A committee was 
also appointed to report a draft of an Ecclesiastical 
Constitution for the Protestant Episcopal Church 
in the United States of America, and to this com- 
mittee was subsequently assigned the duty of 
"preparing the necessary and proposed alterations 
in the Liturgy." This committee, comprising the 
moving spirits of the Convention, consisted of the 
following members, namely : the Pev. Mr. Pro- 
voost and the Hon. Mr. Duane, for ]^ew-York ; 
the Pev. Mr. Beach and Mr. Dennis, for Isew- 
Jersey ; the Pev. Dr. White and Mr. Peters, for 
Pennsylvania ; the Pev. Dr. Wharton and Mr. 
Sykes, for Delaware ; the Pev. Dr. Smith and Dr. 
Cradock, for Maryland ; the Pev. Mr. Grriffith and 
Mr. Page, for Yirginia ; and the Pev. Dr. Purcell 
and the Hon. Mr. Pead, for South-Carolina. 

Thus on the very day of assembling, Se23tember 
28th, the work of organization and revision was 
fully entered upon. Two days later, on the 30th 
of September, to this same committee was assigned 
the further duty of preparing and reporting "a 
plan for obtaining the consecration of Bishops, 
together with an address to the Most Peverend the 
Archbishops, and the Pight Peverend the Bishops 
of the Church of England for that purpose." On 
Saturday, October 1st, the draft of alterations in 
the Liturgy, the draft of a general Ecclesiastical 
Constitution, and "the further alterations to be 
proposed in the Liturgy," were repprted to the 



10 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Convention. On Monday, tlie 3d of October, the 
task of considering these alterations, paragraph by 
paragraph, was continued ; and on Tuesday, while 
clerks were transcribing the alterations in the 
Liturgy, the Ecclesiastical Constitution was agreed 
upon, and the address to the English Archbishops 
and Bishops received. On Wednesday it was 

Oj'dered, that the transcribed copy of the " Alterations in the 
Liturgy, to render it consistent with the American Revolution 
and the Constitution of the respective States," be read and 
considered by paragraphs ; 

wdiicli being done, there followed, thick and fast, 
the final acceptance of the work of the Committee, 
as shown in the action we give below from the 
Journal of the Convention : 

Resolved, — That the Liturgy shall be used in this Church as 
accommodated to the Revolution, agreeably to the alterations 
now approved of and ratified by this Convention, 

On ?notion, Besohed, — That the Fourth of July shall be 
observed by this Church for ever, as a day of thanksgiving to 
Almighty God for the inestimable blessings of religious and 
civil liberty vouchsafed to the United States of America. 

On motion, BesoUed, — That the first Tuesday in November in 
every year for ever, shall be observed by this Church as a day 
of general thanksgiving to Almighty God for the fruits of 
the earth, and for all the other blessings of his merciful provi- 
dence. 

Ordered, that a Committee be appointed to prepare a Form 
of Prayer and Thanksgiving for the Fourth of July; and a 
Committee was accordingly appointed, viz., the Rev. Dr. 
Smithy the Rev. Dr. Magaw, the Rev. Dr. Wharton, and the 
Rev. Mr. Campbell. 

Ordered, that the alterations in the Liturgy to be proposed * 



* The careful reader will notice that only the alterations 
rendered necessary by the political changes which had taken 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 11 

to this Clmrcli, be read and considered by paragraphs; and the 
Convention made some progress therein. 

The Rev. Dr. Smith, from the Committee to prepare a Form 
of Prayer and Thanksgiving for the Fourth of July, reported 
that they had prepared the same. 

Ordered, that it be now received and read. 

Ordered, that the said Report be read and considered by 
paragraphs ; which being done, 

Resolved, — That the said form of prayer be used in this 
Church, on the fourth of July, for ever. 

Then the Convention adjourned to 6 o'clock this evening. 

Wednesday Evening, 6 o'clock. 

The Convention met according to adjournment. 

Ordered, that the consideration of the proposed alterations 
in the Liturgy be resumed. 

Ordered, that the same be again read and considered by para- 
graphs ; which being done, and the alterations agreed to, 

Besohed, — That the said alterations be proposed and recom- 
mended to the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the States from 
which there are deputies to this Convention. 

Ordered, that the alterations made in the articles be again 
read ; which being done, 

Ordered, that the same be read and considered by para- 
graphs ; which being done, and some time spent thereon, 

Hesolved, — That the Articles, as now altered, be recommend- 
ed to this Church, to be by them adopted in the next General 
Convention. 

•» * * * * * * 

Besohed, — That a Committee be appointed to publish tlie 
Book of Common Prayer with the alterations, as well as those 
now ratified, in order to render the Liturgy consistent with the 
American Revolution and the Constitutions of the respective 



place were adopted by this Convention. The further altera- 
tions in the Liturgy which were printed in the " Proposed 
Book," and to which reference will be made s^bsequently, 
were not adopted, but were merely proposed for the acceptance 
of the Church in the various States. They were never adopted 
bv the Church. 



12 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

States, as tlie alterations and new offices recommended to tliis 
Church ; and that the book be accompanied with a proper Pre- 
face or Address, setting forth the reason and expediency of 
the alterations ; and that the Committee have the liberty to 
make verbal and grammatical corrections, but in such manner 
as that nothing in form or substance be altered. 

The Committee appointed were the Rev. Dr. White (Presi- 
dent), the Rev. Dr. Smith, and the Rev. Dr. Wharton. 
******* 

Resolved, — That the same Committee be authorized to pub- 
lish, with the Book of Common Prayer, such of the reading 
and singing Psalms, and such a Kalendar of proper lessons for 
the different Sundays and Holy -days throughout the year, as 
they may think proper. 

******* 
- On motion, ResoUed, — That the Rev. Dr. Smith be requested 
to prepare and preach a sermon suited to the solemn occasion 
of the present Convention on Friday next ; and that the 
service be then read as proposed for future use. 

On Friday, the Ytli of October, the Convention 
attended divine service in Clirist Chnrch, Philadel- 
phia, and the Liturgy as altered was read by the 
Rev. Dr. White, and a sermon suited to the occa- 
sion was preached by the leading spirit in this work 
of revision, the Eev. Dr. William Smith. The 
same day the Convention of 1785 adjourned. 

Our notice of this important session would not 
be complete if we failed to give in full the Consti- 
tution which it provided for the Church in the 
United States. In view of subsequent changes, 
and as embodying the principles underlying our 
organization, this document becomes of the first im- 
portance, and will claim the attentive study of all 
who would acquaint themselves with our history or 
the principles of our ecclesiastical legislation. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 13 

A General Ecclesiastical Constitution of ihe Pro- 
testant Episcopal Church in the United States op 
America. 



Whereas, in tlie course of Divine Providence, tlie Protestant 
Episcopal Cliurcli in the United States of America is become 
independent of all foreign authority, civil and ecclesiastical : 

And whereas, at a meeting of Clerical and Lay Deputies of the 
said Church, in sundry of the said States, viz., in the States of 
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, held in the 
city of New York on the 6th and 7th days of October, in the 
year of our Lord, 1784, it was recommended to this Church in 
the said States represented as aforesaid, and proposed to this 
Church in the States not represented, that they should send 
Deputies to a Convention to be held in the city of Philadelphia, 
on the Tuesday before the Feast of St. Michael in this present 
year, in order to unite in a Constitution of ecclesiastical gov~ 
ernment, agreeably to certain fundamental principles, express- 
ed in the said recommendation and proposal. 

And whereas, in consequence of the said recommendation 
and proposal, Clerical and Lay Deputies have been duly ap^ 
pointed from the said Church in the States of New York, New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and 
South Carolina. 

The said Deputies being now assembled, and taking into 
consideration the importance of maintaining uniformity in 
doctrine, discipline and worship in the said Church, do here- 
by determine, and declare, 

I. That there shall be a General Convention of the Protes- 
tant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, which 
shall be held in the city of Philadelphia on the third Tuesday 
in June, in the year of our Lord 1786, and for ever after once 
in three years, on the third Tuesday of June, in such place as 
shall be determined by the Convention ; and special meetings 
may be held at, such other times and in such place as shall be 
hereafter provided for ; and this Church, in a majority of the 
States aforesaid, shall be represented before they proceed to 
business ; except that the representation of this Church from 



14 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

two States shall be suflBcient to adjourn ; and in all business of 
the Convention freedom of debate shall be allowed. 

II. There shall be a representation of both Clergy and Laity 
of the Church in each State, which shall consist of one or more 
Deputies, not exceeding four of each Order ; and in all ques- 
tions, the said Church in each State shall have one vote ; and 
a majority of sufErages shall be conclusive. 

III. In the said Church in every State represented in this 
Convention, there shall be a Convention consisting of the Clergy 
and Lay Deputies of the congregation. 

IV. " The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of 
the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, 
according to the use of the Church of England," shall be con- 
tinued to be used by this Church, as the same is altered by this 
Convention, in a certain instrument of writing passed by their 
authority, intituled, " Alterations of the Liturgy of the Protes- 
tant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, in order 
to render the same conformable to the American Revolution 
and the Constitutions of the respective States." 

V. In every State where there shall be a Bishop duly conse- 
crated and settled, and who shall have acceded to the articles 
of this General Ecclesiastical Constitution, he shall be con- 
sidered as a member of the Convention ex officio. 

VI. The Bishop or Bishops in every State shall be chosen 
agreeably to such rules as shall be fixed by the respective Con- 
ventions ; and every Bishop of this Church shall confine the 
exercise of his Episcopal office to his proper jurisdiction, unless 
requested to ordain or confirm by any church destitute of a 
Bishop. 

VII. A Protestant Episcopal Church in any of the United 
States not now represented, may at any time hereafter be ad 
mitted, on acceding to the articles of this union. 

VIII. Every clergyman, whether bishop, or presbyter, or 
deacon, shall be amenable to the authority of the Convention 
in the State to which he belongs, so far as relates to suspension 
or removal from office ; and the Convention in each State shall 
institute rules for their conduct, and an equitable mode of trial. 

IX. And whereas it is represented to this Convention to be 
the desire of the Protestant Episcopal Church in these States, 
that there may be further alterations of the Liturgy than such 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 15 

as are made necessary by the American Revolution ; tlierefore 
the " Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacra- 
ments and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, accord- 
ing to the use of the Church of England," as altered by an in- 
strument of writing passed under the authority of this Conven- 
tion, intituled " Alterations la the Book of Common Prayer 
and Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and 
Ceremonies of the Church, according to the use of the Church 
of England, proposed and recommended to the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church in tlie United States of America," shall be used 
in this Church when the same shall have been ratified by the 
Conventions which have respectively sent Deputies to this Ge- 
neral Convention. 

X. No person shall be ordained or permitted to officiate as a 
minister in this Church, until he shall have subscribed the fol- 
lowing declaration : *' I do believe the Holy Scriptures of the 
Old and New Testament to be the word of God, and to contain 
all things necessary to salvation ; and I do solemnly engage to 
conform to the doctrines and worship of the Protestant Episco- 
pal Church, as settled and determined in the Book of Common 
Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, set forth by 
the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
these United States." 

XI. This General Ecclesiastical Constitution, when ratified 
by the Church in the different States, shall be considered as 
fundamental, and shall be unalterable by the Convention of tlie 
Church in any State.* 



The interesting and valuable " Memoirs of the 
Church," bj Bishop White, furnisli ns with infor- 
mation respecting this Convention beyond the pub- 
lished record of proceedings from which we have so 
largely quoted. Subsequent to the preliminary 



* The student of this period of our history should consult 
Bishop White's remarks upon this Constitution, which will be 
found in the " Memoirs of the Church," pp. 96-99, and also in 
the "Reprint of the Journals," already referred to. III., pp. 
209-212. 



16 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

meeting in New- York in October, 1784, the applica- 
tion of the Clergy of Connecticut to the Bishops of 
Scotland for the consecration of the Rev. Dr. Sea- 
burj to the Episcopate had been successful, and ere 
the assembling of the Convention of 1785, in Phila- 
delphia, the Bishop of Connecticut had been gladly 
received by the clergy of his diocese, which soon 
practically embraced the whole of J^ew-England, 
and had entered upon his duties with apostolic zeal 
and fidelity. The clergy of Connecticut, who, as 
we have seen, had held aloof from co-operation with 
their brethren of the Middle and Southern States 
in their efforts for organization, in consequence of 
their expectancy of securing a Bishop of their own, 
and who had from the iirst deprecated the admission 
of the laity into the councils of the Church, at once 
invited the Southern clergy to meet them in Convo- 
cation during the sunnner of 1785, at New-Haven. 
The reply from the Eev. Dr. White and the Philadel- 
phia clergy was courteous and congratulatory, though 
the invitation was declined. Instead of the meeting 
in, Connecticut, they urged upon the Clergy at the 
northward attendance upon the Convention of Phi- 
ladelphia. These mutual offices of courtesy and 
good-will opened the way for an interesting corre- 
spondence between the Bishop of Connecticut and 
Dr. William Smith, who had been elected to the 
Episcopate of Maryland, and who was, perhaps, the 
foremost man next to the judicious and amiable 
White in the work of organization undertaken at 
the southward. In this letter, which was transmit- 
ted through the Pev. Dr. Thomas Bradbury Chand- 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 17 

ler, of ]N'ew-Jersey, — who had lately declined the 
appointment to the Bishopric of Nova Scotia, ten- 
dered him by the English Crown, — Bishop Seabury 
stated his objections to sundry measures of the va- 
rious preliminary conventions at the southward, at 
the same time tendering his services in aid of the ef- 
fort to secure the Episcopate in the English line, 
and offering to ordain candidates for the Middle and 
Southern States, until their application for a Bishop 
of their own had met with success. The objections 
urged by the Bishop of Connecticut were three — that 
the fundamental principles were too many and too 
precise ; that the power of the Bishops was too 
much circumscribed ; and that the laity were admit- 
ted into synods where they might " sit in judgment 
on bishops and presbyters," even when deposition 
might be the event. The Bishop waived his objec- 
tions to giving the laity a voice in the choice of their 
bishop, provided "party and confusion" could be 
avoided, but counseled in this, as in all things, the 
effort to bring " Church government as near to 
the primitive pattern as may be." The letter clos- 
ed with earnest expression of a desire for union, and 
hearty prayers that tlie Spirit of God might be with 
the approaching Convention in Philadelphia, of 
which the Bishop well and wisely said, — " Its deter- 
minations will influence many of the American 
States, and posterity will be materially affected by 
them." The letter was frank and dignified, express- 
ed in the writer's usual courteous style, and was ac- 
companied with a copy of the Bishop's letter of 
consecration. The communication of this letter to 



18 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

the Philadelphia Convention excited '' some animad- 
versions." Bishop White tells iis that '' a few of 
the lay gentlemen spoke more warmly than the oc- 
casion seemed to justify, considering that the letter 
appeared to contain the honest sentiments of the 
writer, delivered in inoffensive terms."* But the 
sound sense of the clergy, who remembered that 
this expression of the Bishop's views was occasion- 
ed by the invitation which had been extended to 
him and to his clergy to be present at Philadelphia, 
quieted the excitement and turned the whole agita- 
tion to use in securing unanimity in the application 
to England for the Episcopate. In fact, Bishop 
Seabury indicated in his letter the means for secur- 
ing this desired end. The action of the Convention 
in this matter is summed up in the address and re- 
solves which we append. With a few verbal altera- 
tions, they are the composition of the excellent 
White, and are well worthy of remembrance from 
their dignified and courteous style, and the careful 
avoidance of fawning or flattery. The resolutions 
were as follows : — 

Resolved : I. Tliat tliis Convention address tlie Archbisli- 
ops and Bishops of the Church of England, requesting them to 
confer the Episcopal character on such persons as shall be cho- 
sen and recommended to them for that purpose from the Con- 
ventions of this Church in the respective States. 

II. That it be recommended to the said Conventions that they 
elect persons for this purpose. 

III. That it be further recommended to the different Conven- 
tions, at their next respective sessions, to appoint committees, 

* Memoirs of the Church, p. 100. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 19 

with powers to correspond with the English bishops, for the 
carrying of these resolutions into effect ; and that until such 
committees shall be appointed, they be requested to direct any 
communications which they may be pleased to make on this 
subject to the committee, consisting of the Rev. Dr. White, 
(President), the Rev. Dr. Smith, the Rev. Mr. Provost, the Hon. 
James Duane, and Samuel Powell and Richard Peters, Es- 
quires. 

IV. That it be further recommended to the different Conven- 
tions, that they pay especial attention to the making it appear 
to their Lordsliips, that the persons who shall be sent to them 
for consecration are desired in the character of Bishops, as well 
by the Laity as by the Clergy of this Church in the said States, 
respectively ; and that they will be received by them in that 
character on their return. 

V. And in order to assure their Lordships of the legality of 
the present proposed application, that the Deputies now assem- 
bled be desired to make a respectful address to the civil rulers 
of the States in which they respectively reside, to certify that 
the said application is not contrary to the Constitutions and 
laws of the same. 

VL And whereas the Bishops of this Church will not be en- 
titled to any of such temporal honours as are due to the Arch- 
bishops and Bishops of the Parent Church, in quality of Lords 
of Parliament ; and whereas the reputation and usefulness 
of our Bishops will considerably depend on their taking no 
higher titles or stile than will be due to their spiritual employ- 
ments ; that it be recommended to this Church, in the States 
here represented, to provide that their respective Bishops may 
be called " The Rt. Rev. A. B., Bishop of the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church in C. D.," and, as a Bishop, may have no other 
title, and may not use any such stile as is usually descriptive 
of temporal power and precedency. 

To THE Most Reverend and Right Reverend the 
Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the 
Bishops op the Church of England. 

We the Clerical and Lay Deputies of the Protestant Episco- 
pal Church in sundry of the United States of America, think it 



20 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

our duty to address your Lordships on a subject deeply in- 
teresting, not only to ourselves and those whom we represent, 
but, as we conceive, to the common cause of Christianity. 

Our forefathers, when they left the land of their nativity, 
did not leave the bosom of that Church over which your Lord- 
ships now preside ; but, as well from a veneration for Episco- 
pal government, as from an attachment to the admirable 
services of our Liturgy, continued in willing connection with 
their ecclesiastical superiors in England, and were subjected 
to many local inconveniences, rather than break the unity of 
the Church to which they belonged. 

When it pleased the Supreme Ruler of the universe, that 
this part of the British empire should be free, sovereign, and 
independent, it became the most important concern of the 
members of our Communion to provide for its continuance. 
And while, in accomplishing of this, they kept in view that 
wise and liberal part of the system of the Church of England 
which excludes as well the claiming as the acknowledging of 
such spiritual subjection as may be inconsistent with the civil 
duties of her children ; it was nevertheless their earnest desire 
and resolution to retain the venerable form of Episcopal 
government handed down to them, as they conceive, from the 
time of the Apostles, and endeared to them by the remem- 
brance of the holy Bishops of the primitive Church, of the 
blessed Martyrs who reformed the doctrine and worship of the 
Church of England, and of the many great and pious Prelates 
who have adorned that Church in every succeeding age. But 
however general the desire of compleating the Orders of our 
Ministry, so diffused and unconnected were the members of 
our Communion over this extensive country, that much time 
and negociation were necessary for the forming a representative 
body of the greater number of Episcopalians in these States ; 
and owing to the same causes, it was not until this Convention 
that sufficient powers could be procured for the addressing 
your Lordships on this subject. 

The petition which we offer to your Venerable Body is, — 
that from a tender regard to the religious interests of thousands 
in this rising empire, professing the same religious principles 
with the Church of England, you will be pleased to confer the 
Episcopal character on such persons as shall be recommended 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUECIT. 21 

by tliis Cliurcli in the several States liere represented — full 
satisfaction being given of tlie sufficiency of tlie persons recom- 
mended, and of its being tlie intention of the general body of 
tlie Episcopalians in the said States respectively, to receive 
them in the quality of Bishops. 

Whether this our request will meet with insurmountable 
impediments, from the political regulations of the kingdom in 
which your Lordships fill such distinguished stations, it is not 
for us to foresee. We have not been ascertained that any 
such will exist ; and are humbly of opinion, that as citizens of 
these States, interested in their prosperity, and religiously re- 
garding the allegiance which we owe them, it is to an ecclesi- 
astical source only we can apply in the present exigency. 

It may be of consequence to observe, that in these States 
there is a separation between the concerns of policy and those 
of religion ; that, accordingly, our civil rulers cannot officially 
join in the present application ; that, however, we are far from 
apprehending the opposition or even displeasure of any of 
those honorable personages ; and finally, that in this business 
we are justified by the Constitutions of the States, which are 
the foundations and controul of all our laws. On this point 
we beg leave to refer to the enclosed extracts from the Con- 
stitutions of the respective States of which we are citizens, and 
we flatter ourselves that they must be satisfactory. 

Thus, we have stated to your Lordships the nature and the 
grounds of our application ; which we have thought it most 
respectful and most suitable to the magnitude of the object, to 
address to your Lordships for your deliberation before any 
person is sent over to carry them into effect. Whatever may 
be the event, no time will efface the remembrance of the past 
services of your Lordships and your predecessors. The Arch- 
bishops of Canterbury were not prevented, even by the weighty 
concerns of their high stations, from attending to the interests 
of this distant branch of the Church under their care. The 
Bishops of London were our Diocesans ; and the uninterrupted 
although voluntary submission of our congregations, will re- 
main a perpetual proof of their mild and paternal government. 
All the Bishops of England, with other distinguished charac- 
ters, as well ecclesiastical as civil, have concurred in forming 
and carrying on the benevolent views of the Society for Pro- 



22 THE G-ENEKAL CONVENTION 

pagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts : a Society to whom, 
under God, the prosperity of our Church is in an eminent de- 
gree to be ascribed. It is our earnest wish to be permitted to 
make, through your Lordships, this just acknowledgment to 
that venerable Society ; a tribute of gratitude which we the 
rather take this opportunity of paying, as while they thought 
it necessary to withdraw their pecuniary assistance from our 
Ministers, they have endeared their past favors by a benevolent 
declaration, that it is far from their thoughts to alienate their 
affection from their brethren now under another government — 
with the pious wish, that their former exertions may still con- 
tinue to bring forth the fruits they aimed at of pure religion 
and virtue. Our hearts are penetrated with the most lively 
gratitude by these generous sentiments ; the long succession 
of former benefits passes in review before us ; we pray that our 
Church may be a lasting monument of the usefulness of so 
worthy a body ; and that her sons may never cease to be kindly 
affectionedto the members of that Church, the Fathers of which 
have so tenderly watched over her infancy. 

For your Lordships in particular, we most sincerely wish and 
pray, that you may long continue the ornaments of the Church 
of England, and at last receive the reward of the righteous 
from the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls. 

We are, with all the respect which is due to your exalted 
and venerable characters and stations. 
Your Lordships 

Most obedient and 

Most humble Servants, 
Signed by the Clerical and Lay Deputies 
of the convetstion. 
In Convention : 
Christ Church, Philadelphia, 
October 5th, 1785. 

Full as lias been our presentation of the action 
of the Convention of 1785, we should greatly err 
if we dismissed its consideration without tracing 
still farther than we may learn from the extracts 
from the records which we have given, the story 



OF THE AMEKICAN CHUECII. 23 

of the preparation and reception of the " Proposed 
Book," as it has always been styled."^' We turn 
from the pages of the Journal, which indicate with 
sufficient clearness the haste with which the altera- 
tions were proposed and tentatively adopted, to the 
MS. authorities in the archives of the Church, and 
to the . brief but pertinent recollections of Bishop 
White, for the fuller history of these liturgical 
changes. As the result of the action of the Con- 
vention, certain alterations rendered imperative 
by the issue of the war for independence were 
" approved of and ratified. "f Further changes, 
comprising a thorough review of the Liturgy and 
Articles of Eeligion, were " proposed and recom- 
mended ":{: for adoption at a subsequent Conven- 
tion. These alterations, prepared by a subdivision 
of the Committee on tlie changes in the Prayer 
Book, were presented to the Convention without 
reconsideration by the whole Committee ; and even 
in Convention " there were but few points canvassed 
with any material difference of opinion. "§ These 
changes were mainly the work of the Bev. Dr. 
William Smith, a giftod but erratic man, who re- 
ceived the thanks of the Convention for the as- 
sistance he thus rendered in perfecting the press- 
ing business before them ; and to whom, with the 

* Notliing can be more incorrect and wanting in historical 
accuracy than to speak of tliis volume as the " Bishop White 
Prayer Book." If any name were thus to be used in connection 
with this compilation, it should be that of the Rev. Dr. Wil- 
liam Smith. 

f Journal of a Convention, etc., 1785, p. 12. 

t Ibid., pp. 12, 13. 

§ Bishop White, Memoirs of the Church, p. 103. 



24: THE GENERAL CONVENTION" 

Rev. Drs. White and Wharton, the duty of pub- 
lishing the " Proposed Boole " was specially assign- 
ed. Authority was given to this Committee to 
prepare " a proper preface or address, setting forth 
the reason and expediency of the alterations."* 
Permission was accorded to them " to make verbal 
and grammatical corrections; but in such a man- 
ner, that nothing in form or substance be alter- 
ed ;"f and the preparation and publication of a 
Psalter, a Kalendar of proper Lessons and Metrical 
Psalms was also made their duty. With these 
ample powers the Committee set about their work ; 
Dr. White, the chairman, at Philadelphia, Dr. 
Smith, at his college and parish in Maryland, and 
Dr. Wharton of Delaware, by an occasional com- 
munication and by a visit now and then to his col- 
leagues, all engaged and deeply interested in their 
task. Few more interesting or instructive contri- 
butions to our ecclesiastical history are to be found 
than the familiar and often carelessly written com- 
munications, prepared with no idea of preservation 
and much less with a view to publication, which 
passed between the members of the Commit- 
tee in the prosecution of their work. It was 
only as the result of an after-thought on the part of 
Dr. Smith that these letters were preserved at all, 
and passing subsequently into the hands of Bishop 
White and forming a portion of his papers now on 
Hie among the archives of the Church, they are 



* Journal of a Convention, etc., 1785, p. 17. 
t ^id. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 25 

printed in full among the illustrative notes and doc- 
uments appended to the Eeprint of Journals of Gen- 
eral Conventions issued under authority of the Con- 
vention itself.^ The alterations themselves, printed 
from the original mss. still preserved among the 
Archives of the Church, we give below.f Their 
importance as exhibiting the doctrinal and liturgi- 
cal views of the leading men who moulded our insti- 
tutions and settled our discipline and worship at 
tliis epoch of our history can not be over-estimated. 
Events now occurring make this record one of 
value ; and no one careful to acquaint himself with 
the history of the Church or the Convention will 
be repelled by the requirement of time and atten- 
tion which their study demands. 

Alterations agreed upon & confirmed in Convention for ren- 
dering the Liturgy conformable to llie Principles of the 
American Revolution, and the Constitutions of the several 
States. 

1. That in the suffrages after the Creed, instead of Lord, 
save the King, be said Lord, bless & presence these United 
States. 

2d. That the prayer for the Royal family, in morning & 
evening service, be omitted, 

3d. That in the Litany the 15th, 16th, 17th, & 18th petitions 
be omitted, and that instead of the 20th & 21st petitions, be 
substituted the following — That it may please Thee to endue 
the Congress of these United States, & oil others in authority 



* Vide vol. iii., pp. 109, 110, 125, 198. 

f They are also contained in Bishop White's Memoirs, pp. 
362-377, and in Perry's Introduction to Proctor on the Com- 
mon Prayer (New- York, 1868), pp. xiv. — xxvi. Vide also 
Perry's Reprint of the Journals of Early Conventions, III. , pp. 
110-135. 



26 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

legislative executive, & Judicial loith grace, wisdom & under- 
standing, to execute Justice and to maintain truth. 

4tli. That when the Litany ia not said, the prayer for the 
high Court of Parliament be thus altered, — " Most gracious Ood, 
we humbly beseech thee, as for these United States in general, so 
especially for their Delegates in Congress, that thou wouldest he 
pleased to direct & prosper all their consultations to the advance- 
ment of thy glory, the good of thy Church, the safety, honour & 
welfare of thy people, that all things may be so ordered & settled 
by their endeavors upon the best & surest foundations, that 
peace & happiness, truth & justice, religion & piety, may be es- 
tablished among us for all generations," &c. to the end, & y* 
" Prayer for the K'gs Majesty," altered as follows : viz. — A 
Prayer for our civil Rulers. Lord, our heavenly Father, 
y^ high & mighty Ruler of y' Universe, who dost from thy 
Tlirone, behold all y^ Dwellers upon Earth; most heartily we 
beseech thee, with thy Favour to behold all in Autliority, legisla- 
tive, executive and Judicial in these United States; & so re- 
plenish them with y^ Grace of thy holy Spirit, that they may 
alway incline to thy will & walk in thy way. Endue them 
plenteously icith heavenly Gifts, grant them in Health & Wealth 
long to live & that after this Life, they may attain everlasting 
Joy & Felicity, through Jesus X' our Lord. Amen. 

5th. That the 1st. Collect for the King in the Communion 
Service be omitted, and that the Second be altered as follows 
— instead of " the hearts of Kings are in thy rule & governance," 
be said — " Tliat the hearts of all Rulers are in thy governance, 
&c., and instead of the words — Jieart of George thy servant, 
insert, — so to direct the Rulers of these states, that in all their 
thoughts, &c." changhig the singular pronouns to the plural. 

7th. That in the answer in the Catechism to the question — 
What is thy duty towards thy neighbour f for to honour and 
obey the king, be substituted — to honour & obey my civil rulers, 
to submit myself, <bc. 

8th. That instead of the observation of the 5th of Novem- 
ber, the 30th of January, the 29th of May, & the 25th of Oc-. 
tober, y« following service be used on y* 4th of July, being 
the Anniversary of Independence. 

9tli. That in y« Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea, in y" 
Prayer " eternal God, <&c." instead of these Words — " unto 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 27 

our most gracious Sovereign Lord K. George and Ms King- 
doms," be inserted y« Words — ''to the U. States of A." and 
that instead of the Word "Island" be inserted y^ Word 
"Country ; & in y« Collect " Almighty God, y^ Sovereign 
Commander," be omitted y^ Words — " y^ Honour of our Sove- 
reign," & the Words *' y« honour of our Country" inserted. 

Service for the Ath of July. 

With y^ sentences hefoi'e Morning & Evening Prayer. 

The Lord hath been mindful of us, and he shall bless us ; 
he shall bless them that fear him, both small & great. that 
men would therefore praise the Lord, for his Goodness, and 
declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men. 

Hymn, instead of the Venite. 

My Song shall be alway of the loving kindness of the Lord : 
with my mouth will I ever be showing forth his truth from 
one generation to another. [Psal. 89 : 1.] 

The merciful and gracious Lord hath so done his marvellous 
works : that they ought to be had in remembrance. [Psal. 
Ill : 4.] 

Who can express the noble acts of the Lord : or show forth 
all his praise ? [Psal. 106 : 2.] 

The works of the Lord are great : sought out of all them 
that have pleasure therein. [Psal. Ill : 2.] 

For he will not always be chiding : neither keepeth he his 
anger for ever. [Psal. 103 : 9. J 

He hath not dealt with us after our sins : nor rewarded us 
according to our wickedness. [Verse 10.] 

For look how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth ; 
so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. [Verse 11.] 

Yea, like as a father pitieth his own children : even so is 
the Lord merciful unto them that fear him. [Verse 11.] 

Thou, God, hast proved us : thou also hast tried us, like 
as silver is tried. [Psal. 66 : 9.] 

Thou didst remember us in our low estate, and redeem us 
from our enemies : for thy mercy endureth for ever. [Psal. 
136 : 23, 24.] 



28 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Proper Psalms, 118, except v. 10, 11, 12, 13, 22d, 28d, to con- 
clude witli V. 24. 

1. Lesson— Deut. 8. 2d. Less : Thess. 5, verse 12th— 23d, 
botli inclusive. 

Collect for the day. 

Almighty God, who hast in all ages showed forth thy power 
& mercy in the wonderful preservation of thy church, and in 
the protection of every nation & people professing thy holy and 
eternal truth, and putting their sure trust in thee ; We yield 
thee our unfeigned thanks and praise for all thy public mer- 
cies, and more especially for that signal and wonderful mani- 
festation of thy Providence which we commemorate this day ; 
wherefore not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name 
be ascribed all honour and glory, in all churches of the Saints, 
from generation to generation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 

A Thanksgiving for the day, to he said after the General 
Thanksgiving. 

■ O God, whose Name is excellent in all the earth, and thy 
Glory above the heavens ; who as on this day didst inspire and 
direct the hearts of our Delegates in Congress, to lay the per- 
petual foundations of peace, liberty & safety ; we bless and 
adore thy glorious Majesty, for this thy loving kindness & Pro- 
vidence. And we humbly pray that the devout sense of this 
signal mercy may renew and increase in us a Spirit of love & 
thankfulness to thee its only author, a Spirit of peaceable sub- 
mission to the laws & government of our country, and a spirit of 
fervent zeal for our holy religion, which thou hast preserved & 
secured to us and our posterity. May we improve these ines- 
timable blessings for the advancement of religion, liberty, and 
science throughout this land, 'till the wilderness and solitary 
place be made glad through us, and the Desert rejoice & blos- 
som as the rose. This we beg, etc.* 



* The Epistle and the Gospel were added by the committee, 
agreeably to an authority which they conceived to be vested in 
them. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUKCH. 29 

Alterations in y^ Book of Common Prayer & Administration 
of y^ Sacraments, & other Eites & Ceremonies of y^ Church, 
according to y« Use of y« Ch'^ of EngF, proposed & recommend- 
ed to y« Prot* Epis^ Church in y« U. States of America.* 

The Order for Morning Service Daily throughout the year. 

The following Sentences of Scripture are ordered to be 
prefixed to the usual Sentences, viz. — 

1. The Lord is in his Holy Temple ; let all the Earth keep 
silence before Him. Hab. 2 : 20.f 

From the Rising of the Sun to the Going down of the Same, 
my Name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every 
Place Incense shall be offered unto my Name, and a pure Of- 
fering ; for my Name shall be great among the Heathen, saith 
the Lord of Hosts. Malacid [1 : 11.] 

[Let the words of my Mouth, and the meditation of tuy Heart, 
be alway acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my Strength and 
my Redeemer. Psal. 19 : 14.] :{: 

2. That the Rubric preceding the Absolution be altered 
thus — "A declaration to he made hy the Mimster alone, standing, 
concerning the forgiveness of Sins. "§ 

3. That, in the Lord's prayer, the word who be substituted 
in lieu of which, and that those who trespass stand instead of 
" them that trespass." 

4. That the Gloria Patri be omitted after the " come let us 
sing," and in every other Place, where, by the present Rubric, 
it is ordered to be inserted, to "the end of the" Reading 
Psalms, when shall be said or sung Gloria Patri, &c. , or Glory 
he to God on high, and in earth peace, good-will towards men, 
&c., at y^ discretion of y® Minister. 

5. That in the Te Deum, instead of honouraUe it be adora- 
hle, true, and only Son, and, instead of didst not abhor the Vir- 
gin's womb — didst humble thyself to be horn of a pure Virgin. 

6. That until a proper selection of Psalms be made, each 
Minister be allowed to use such as he may chuse. 



* In the handwriting of Bishop White. 

f The words, "N.B. — A solemn pause here," are stricken 
out. 

X Not in the MS., nor in the " Proposed Book." 
§ Transposed in the " Proposed Book." 



30 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

7. Tliat the same liberty be allowed, respecting tlie lessons. 

8. That the article in the Apostles Creed, He descended into 
Hell, be omitted. 

9. That the Athanasian and the Nicene Creeds be entirely- 
omitted. 

10. That after the Response, "and with thy Spirit," all he 
omitted to the words, Lord show thy mercy upon us, which 
the Minister shall pronounce still kneeling. 

11. That in the Suffrage, " make thy chosen People joyful," the 
word chosen be omitted, and also the following Suffrages, to 
"0 God make clean our hearts within us." 

13. That the Rubric after these words, " and take not thy 
Holy Spirit from us,' ' be omitted. Then the two collects to be 
said : in y® collect for grace, y® words, "he ordered," to be omit- 
ted, & y« word "he" inserted, instead of "to do always that is" 

13. In the collect for the Clergy and People, read Almighty 
and everlasting God, send down upon all Bishops and other Pas- 
tors, and the Congregations committed, &c., to the end. 

14.* 

15. That the Lord's prayer after the Litany, and the subse- 
quent Rubrick, be omitted. 

16. That the short Litany be read as follows, " Son of God, 
we beseech thee to hear us. Son of God, we beseech thee 
to hear us. Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the 
World, Grant us thy peace. Christ, hear us. Lord, have 
mercy upon us and deal not with us according to our Sins, nei- 
ther reward us according to our iniquities" After which, omit 
the words, "Let us pray." 

17. That the Gloria Patri, after Lord arise, &c,, be omit- 
ted ; as also Let us pray, after we put our trust in thee. 

18. That in the following prayer, instead of righteously have 
deserved, it be justly have deserved. 

19. That in the 1st. warning for Communion, the word dam- 
nation, following these words increase your, &c., be read con- 
demnation ; and the two paragraphs after these words, or else 



* Here is a mistake in the Manuscript : the article being 
found to be a repetition of part of the 4th. Vide Bp. White's 
Memoirs of the Church, p. 367, where " 13th " is a misprint for 
"4th." 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 31 

come not to that holy table, be omitted, & tlie following one be 
read," & if there he any of you, who hy these means, cannot quiet 
their conscience, &c." The words, learned and discreet, epithets 
given to the ministers, to be also omitted. 

20. In the exhortation to the communion, let it run thus — 
"For as the benefit is great, &c., to drink his blood, so is the 
danger great, if we receive the same unworthily. Judge there- 
fore yourselves^ <&c." 

21. That in the rubrick proceeding the absolution, instead of 
pronounce this absolution, it be. Then shall the minister stand 
up, c& turning to the people, say. 

22. That in the baptism of infants, parents may be admitted 
as Sponsors. 

23. That the minister, in speaking to the Sponsors, after 
these words, vouchsafe to release Mm, say — release Mm from Sin, 
& in the second prayer, instead of remission of his Sins, read 
remission of Sin. 

24. That in y^ questions add<^ to the Sponsors, & y« An- 
swers, instead of y« present Form, it be as follows — 

25. Dost thou believe the articles of the christian faith, as con- 
tained in the Apostles' creed, and wilt thou endeavour to have 
this child instructed accordingly ? AnsW : / do believe them, 
and, by God's help, will endeavour so to do. 

Wilt thou endeavour to have him brought up in the fear of 
God, and to obey God's holy will & commindments ? AnsW : / 
will, by God's assistance. 

26. That the sign of the cross may be omitted, if particularly 
desired by the Sponsors or Parents, and the prayer to be thus 
altered (by the direction of a short rubric) We receive this child 
into the congregation of Christ's flock, & pray that hereafter he 
may never be ashamed, dc, to the end. 

27. That the address, Seeing now dearly beloved, &c. be 
omitted. 

28. That the prayer after the Lord's prayer, be thus chang- 
ed. We yield thee hearty thanks, &c. to receive this Infant as 
thine own child by baptism, <& to incorporate Mm, &c. 

29. That in the following exhortation, the words to renounce 
the devil and cdl his works, and in the charge to the Sponsors, 
the words vulgar tongue be omitted. 



32 THE GEKERAL CONVENTION 

30. That tlie forms of private baptism & of Confirmation, be 
made conformable to these alterations. 

31. That in the exhortation before matrimony, all between 
these words holy matrimony, & therefore if any man, &c., be 
omitted. 

32. That the words I 'plight thee my troth be omitted in both 
places, and also the words uitli my body I thee worship ; and 
also pledged their troth either to other. 

33. That all after the blessing be omitted. 

34. In the Burial Service, instead of the two Psalms, take 
the following verses of both, viz. Ps. 39, Verses 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 
13, & Psalm 90, to v. 13. In y« Rubric, y® words " unhapii ed 
or " be omitted. 

For the Declaration & form of interment, beginning — Foras- 
much as, &c., insert the following — viz. "Forasmuch as it 
hath pleased Almighty God, in his wise Promdence, to take out of 
this world the soul of our deceased brother {sister) lying now before 
us ; We therefore commit Ids [her) body to the ground, earth to 
earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust ; (thus at sea — to the deep to 
be turned into corruption) looking for the general resurrection in 
the last day, and the life of the world to come, thro' our Lord 
Jesus Christ ; at whose second coming in glorioiis Majesty, to 
judge the world, the earth and the sea, shall give up their dead, 
and the corruptible bodies of those who sleep in him shall be 
changed, and made like unto his own glorious body, according to 
the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things unto 
Himself." 

In the sentence " I heard a voice, dx." insert "who" for 
" which." 

The prayer following the Lord's prayer to be omitted. In 
the next collect, leave out the words " as our hope is this our 
brother doth." For them that insert those who. 

35. In the visitation of the Sick, instead of the absolution as 
it now stands, insert the declaration of forgiveness which is 
appointed for the communion Service, or, either of the two col- 
lects, which are taken from the Commination ofl&ce, and appro- 
priated to Ash Wednesday may be, used. 

In the Psalm, omit the 3d, 6th, 8th, 9th, & 11th verses. In 
the "Commendatory prayer," for miserable & naughty say 
" Vain & miserable." Strike out the word purged. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 33 

In the prayer " for persons troubled in mind " omit all that 
stands between the words "afflicted Servant," and "Ids Soul is 
full &c. , & instead thereof say " afflicted Servant, whose Soul is 
full of trouble," & strike out the particle "But" & proceed, " 
merciful God," &c. 

36. A form of Prayer & visitation of Prisoners for notorious 
crimes, and especially persons under sentence of death, being 
much wanted, the form entituled "Prayers for persons un- 
der sentence of death, agreed upon in a Synod of the Arch- 
bishops and bishops, and the rest of the clergy of Ireland, at 
Dublin, in the year 1711," as it now stands in the book of Com- 
mon Prayer of the church of Ireland, is agreed upon, and or- 
dered to be adopted, with the following alterations, viz : 

For the absolution, take the same declaration of forgiveness, 
or either of the Collects above directed for the visitation of the 
Sick. The short Collect "0 Saviour of the world," to be left out, 
& for the word Frailness say Frailty. 

37. In the Catechism, besides the alteration respecting the 
civil Powers, alter as follows : viz. What is your name ? N. 
M. When did you receive this name ? I received it in Bap- 
tism, whereby I became a member of the Christian Church. 
What was promised for you in Baptism ? That I should be in- 
structed to believe the articles of the Christian faith, as con- 
tained in the Apostles' Creed, & to obey God's Holy Will, and 
keep his commandments, 

" Dost thou think thou art hound to believe all the articles of 
th3 Christian faith, as contained in this Creed, and t > obey God's 
Holy Will & keep his Commandments f" " Yes verily," &c. 

Instead of the words " verily & indeed taken," say — " Spirit- 
ually taken ." 

Answer to Question How many sacraments f *• Two, Baptism 
& y^ Lord's Supper." 

38. Instead of a particular Service for the Churching of 
women, & Psalms, the following special prayer is to be intro- 
duced, after the General Thanksgiving ; viz. This to be said, 
when any Woman desires to return thanks, &c. " O Almighty 
God, we give thee most humble & hearty thanks, for that thou 
hast been graciously pleased to preserve this Woman, thy 
^'.ervant, through the great Pains and Perils of childbirth. 
Incline her, we beseech thee, to show forth Her Thankfulness. 



81 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

for tliis thy great mercy, not only with her lips, but by a holy 
and virtuous life. Be pleased, O God, so to establish her 
health, that she may lead the remainder of her days to thy 
Honour & Glory, thro' Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen." 

39. The Commination office for Ash Wednesday to be discon- 
tinued,* and therefore the three collects, the first beginning-, 
1^*^. " Lord, we beseech thee," — 2"*^. " most mighty God," — 3''^, 
*' Turn us, Good Lord," shall be continued among the occa- 
sional prayers ; and used after the Collect on Ash Wednesday, 
and on such other occasions as the Minister shall think fit. 



Articles of Religion. 

1. Of Faith in the Holy Trinity. 

There is but one living, true, and eternal God, the Father 
Almighty, without body, parts or pa?sions ; of infinite power, 
wisdom and goodness ; the maker and preserver of all things, 
both visible and invisible : and One Lord Jesus Christ, Son of 
God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, very and true 
God ; who came down from heaven, took man's nature in the 
womb of the blessed Virgin of her substance, and was God and 
man in one person, whereof is one Christ ; who truly suffered, 
was crucified, dead and buried, to reconcile his Father to us, 
and to be a sacrifice for the sins of all men ; He rose again from 
death, ascended into Heaven, and there sitteth untill he shall 
return to judge the world at the last day : and one Holy Spirit, 
the Lord & giver of Life, of the same divine nature with the 
Father and the Son. 

2. Of the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation. 

Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation : 
so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved 
thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be 
believed as an Article of Faith, or be thought requisite or neces- 



* The words "as it is considered rather as a discouragement 
to sincere Christians from coming to church on that day, than 
an encouragement," which are in the MS., are stricken out. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUECH. 35 

sary to salvation. In tlie name of the Holy Scriptures we do 
understand the canonical Books of the Old & New Testament. 

Of the names & numbers of the Canonical Books. 

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, 
Judges, Ruth, The 1st book of Samuel, The 2d book of Samuel, 
The 1st book of Kings, The 2d book of Kings, The 1st book of 
Chronicles, The 2d book of Chronicles, The 1st book of Esdras, 
The 2d book of Esdras, The book of Hester, The book of Job, 
The Psalms, The Proverbs-, Ecclesiastes or Preacher, Cantica 
or Songs of Solomon, Four Prophets the greater, Twelve Pro- 
phets the Lesser. 

And the other Books the Church doth read for example of 
life, and instruction of manners ; but yet doth it not apply 
them to establish any doctrine : such are these following. 

The 3d Book of Esdras, The 4th Book of Esdras, The Book 
of Tobias, The Book of Judith, The rest of the book of Hester, 
The book of Wisdom, Jesus the son of Sirach, Baruch the 
Prophet, The Song of the three Children, The story of Susanna, 
Of Bel and the Dragon, The prayer of Manasses, The 1st book 
of Maccabees, The 2d book of Maccabees. 

All the books of the New Testament, as they are commonly 
received, We do receive and account them canonical. 

3. Oftlie Old & New Testament. 

There is a perfect harmony and agreement between the old 
Testament and the new, for in both everlasting life is offered 
to mankind by Christ, who is the only Mediator between God 
and man ; being both God & man : and altho' the law given by 
Moses, as to ceremonies & the civil precepts of it, doth not bind 
Christians : yet all such are oblig'd to observe the moral com- 
mandments which he delivered. 

4. Of Creeds. 

The creed, commonly called the Apostles' Creed, ought to be 
received & believed ; because it may be proved by the Holy 
Scriptures. 



36 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



5. Of Original Sin. 

By the fall of Adam, the nature of man is become so corrupt, 
as to be greatly depraved, having departed from its primitive 
innocence, and that original righteousness in which it was at 
first created by God. For we are now so naturally inclined to 
do evil that the flesh is continually striving to act contrary to 
the Spirit of God, which corrupt inclination still remains even 
in the regenerate ; but tho' there is no man living who sinneth 
not ; yet we must use our sincere endeavors to keep the whole 
law of God, so far as we possibly can. 

6. Of Free Will. 

The Condition of man after the fall of Adam is such, that 
he cannot turn and prepare himself by his own natural strength 
and good works to faith and calling upon God : Wherefore we 
have no power to do good works, pleasing and acceptable to 
God, without the grace of God by Christ giving us a good will, 
and working with us, when we have that good will. 

7. Of the Justification of Man. 

We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of 
our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ by faith, k not for our own 
works, or deservings. Wherefore that we are justified by faith 
only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort. 

8. Of Good Works. 

Albeit that good works, which are the fruits of Faith & fol- 
low after Justification, cannot put away our sins, & endure the 
severity of God's judgment ; yet are they pleasing & accept- 
able to God in Christ, & do spring out necessarily of a true & 
lively faith, insomuch that by them a lively faith may be fts 
evidently known, as a Tree discerned by the Fruit. 

9. Of Christ alone without Sin. 

Christ by taking human nature on him, was made like unto 
us in all things, sin only excepted. He was a lamb without 
spot ; and by the sacrifice of himself once offered, made atone- 
ment & propitiation for the sins of the world ; and sin was not 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 37 

in him. But all mankind besides, tho' baptized & born again 
in Christ, do ofEend in many things. For if we say we have 
no Sin, we deceive ourselves, & the truth is not in us. 

10. Of Sin after Ba/ptism. 

They who fall into Sin after Baptism may be renewed by 
repentance ; for tho' after we have received God's grace, we 
may depart from it by falling into sin ; yet, thro' the assistance 
of his Holy Spirit, we may by repentance & the amendment of 
our lives, be restored again to his favour. God will not deny 
repentance of sins to those who truly repent, and do that which 
is lawful & right ; but all such thro' his mercy in Christ Jesus, 
shall save their souls alive. 

11. [Of Predestination. 1 

Predestination to Life, with respect to every man's salvation, 
is the everlasting purpose of God, secret to us : and the right 
knowledge of what is revealed concerning it, is full of comfort 
to such truly religious Christians, as feel in themselves the 
Spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of their flesh and their 
earthly affections, & raising their minds to heavenly things. 
But we must receive God's promises as they be generally de- 
clared in Holy Scripture, and do his will, as therein is expressly 
directed ; for without Holiness of Life no man shall be saved. 

12. Of obtaining Eternal Salvation only hy the Name of Christ. 

They are to be accounted presumptuous, who say, that every 
man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth, 
so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that Law, 
and the light of nature. For Holy Scripture doth set out unto 
us, only the Name of Jes. Christ, whereby men must be saved. 

13. Of the Church and its authority. 

The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful 
men, wherein the pure word of God is preached, & the 
sacraments are duly administered, according to Christ's ordi- 
nance in all things necessary & requisite : And rvery Church 
hath power to ordain, change & abolish rites k cenmonies, 



88 THE GENEKAL CONVENTION 

for the more decent order & good government thereof, so 
that all things be done to edifying. But it is not lawful for 
the Church to ordain anything contrary to God's word ; nor 
so to expound the Scripture, as to make one part seem re- 
pugnant to another ; nor to decree or enforce anything to be 
believed as necessary to salvation, that is contrary to God's 
holy word. General councils & Churches are liable to err, & 
have erred, even in matters of Faith & Doctrine, as well as in 
their ceremonies. 

14. Of Ministering in the Congregation. 
It is not lawful for any man to take upon him the office of 
public preaching, or ministering the Sacraments in the Con- 
gregation, before he be lawfully called, and sent to execute 
the same. And those we ought to judge lawfully called & 
sent, who are chosen & called to this work by men who have 
public authority given unto them in the congregation, to call 
& send Ministers into the Lord's vineyard. 

15. Of the Sacraments. 

Sacraments ordained of Christ, be not only badges or tokens 
of Christian men's profession : but rather they be certain sure 
witnesses, and effectual signs of Grace, and God's good will 
towards us, by the which he doth work invisibly in us, and 
doth not only quicken, but also strengthen & confirm our faith 
in him. 

There are Two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in 
the Gospel, that is to say. Baptism & the Supper of the Lord. 

16. Of Baptism. 

Baptism is not only a Sign of profession and mark of dif- 
ference, whereby Christian Men are discerned from others that 
be not Christened; but it is also a sign of regeneration or new 
Birth, whereby as by an Instrument, they that receive Bap- 
tism rightly, are grafted into the Church, the promises of the 
forgiveness of sin, and of our Adoption to be the Sons of God, 
by the Holy Ghost, are visibly sign'd «& sealed ; Faith is con- 
firm'd, and Grace increas'd by virtue of prayer unto God. 
The Baptism of young Children is in any wise to be retained 
in the Church, as mc-t acrreeable with the Institution of Christ. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 39 

17. Of the Lord's Suppe7\ 

The Supper of the Lord is not only a Sign of the Love that 
Christians ought to have among themselves one to another ; 
but rather is a Sacrament of our redemption by Christ's 
death : Insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily and with 
faith receive the same, the Bread which we break, is a par- 
taking of the Body of Christ: and likewise the Cup of Blessing, 
is a partaking of the Blood of Christ. 

Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of Bread 
& Wine) in the Supper of the Lord cannot be proved by Holy 
Writ ; but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, over- 
throweth the nature of a Sacrament, and hath given occasion 
to many superstitions. 

The Body of Christ is given, taken & eaten in the Supper of 
the Lord only after an heavenly & spiritual manner. And 
the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in 
the Supper is Faith. 

18. Of the one Oblation of Christ upon the Cross. 

The offering of Christ once made, is that perfect redemption, 
propitiation & satisfaction for all the sins of the whole 
world, both original and actual; and there is none other satis- 
faction for sin, but that alone. 

19. Of Bishops & Ministers, 

The Book of Consecration of Bishops and ordering of Priests 
& Deacons ; except such part as requires any oaths or sub- 
scriptions inconsistent with the American Revolution, is to be 
adopted as containing all things necessary to such consecration 
& ordering. 

20. Of a Christian Man's Oath, 

The Christian Religion doth not prohibit any man from 
taking an oath, when required by the Magistrate in testimony 
of Truth ; But all vain & rash swearing is forbidden by the 
Holy Scriptures.* 

* We have given these " Alterations," etc., verbatim et 
literatim, from the original mss. among the Convention 
archives as they appear ere they were pruned and polished by 



40 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

The original manuscripts of the preceding " Alterations, 
&c.," are still preserved among the manuscripts in the archives 
of the Church. Immediately following these papers, and 
apparently omitted from Bp. White's printed copy by inadver- 
tence, is another sheet, containing — 

TJie Table of Holy Days. 

The following Days are to be kept Holy by this Ch'h. Viz. 

All the Sundays in the year in the Order enumerated in the 
Table of Proper Lessons with their respective Services. 

Christmas 

Circumcision 

Epiphany 

Easter Day, Monday and Tuesday 

Ascension Day 

Whitsunday, Monday and Tuesday 

The following Days are to be observed as Days of Fasting. 
Viz. 

Good Friday and Ashwednesday 

The following Days are to be observed as Days of Thanks- 
giving Viz, The 4th of July in Commemoration of American 
independence, and the first Thursday in November as a Day 
of GenT Thanksgiving. 

The " Proposed Book " was hardly out of the 
printer's hand before it was evident, to quote the 
language of Bishop White, " that, in regard to the 
Liturgy, the labors of the Convention had not 
reached their object."* The Conventions of Penn- 



the Committee of Revision, who were appointed to prepare 
the new Prayer-Book for the press. The comparison of the 
Articles as they are printed above, with those that appear in 
the " Proposed Book " and in Bp. White's Memoirs, will of it- 
self alone prove the liberties taken by Drs. Smith and White 
by virtue of their appointment ' ' to make verbal and gramma- 
tical corrections." It is hardly a question whether, in view of 
the restriction of the Convention, "that nothing in form or 
substance be altered," they did not greatly exceed their powers. 
* Memoirs of the Church, p. 112. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 41 

sylvania, Maryland, Yirginia, and South-Carolina 
proposed amendments. JN^ew- Jersey rejected the 
book, and ]N"ew-York postponed the question of its 
ratification, l^o convention was held in Ddaware, 
while in New-England its introduction was never 
attempted, save in isolated cases. Maryland re- 
quired the restoration of the l^icene Creed and the 
addition of an " Invocation" to the Consecration 
Prayer in the Communion Ofiice.* Yirginia took 
exceptions to the rubric before the Communion 
Office allowing the minister to repel an evil liver 
from the Holy Table f ; while Pennsylvania, in 
addition to the Maryland amendments, asked the 
addition of a question and answer in the Baptismal 
Office, enjoining the instruction of the child in the 
faith of the Apostles' Creed, and suggested further 
changes in the Burial Service and in the Articles.:]: 
The changes proposed in South-Carolina comprised 
alterations and omissions in almost every part of 
the Liturgy.§ In short, the book was condemned 
at the outset. Its use was but temporary and local, 
and the volume itself speedily sunk into obscurity, 
making it now one of the rarest of the books illus- 
trative of our Ecclesiastical annals. It was, how- 



* Perry's " Eeprint of tlie Journals," III., pp 199, 200. 

f Journals of Virginia Conventions, appended to Hawks's 
Ecclesiastical Contributions, I., p. 16, Appendix. White's 
Memoirs of the Church, p. 112. 

I Journal of the Meetings which led to the institution of 
a Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State 
of Pennsylvania, together with the Journals of the first six 
Conventions. Philadelphia, 1790 ; pp. 15, 16. 

is Dulcho's " History of the Church in South-Carolina," pp. 
471-3. 



42 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

ever, reprinted in London in 1789, doubtless through 
the agency of the celebrated Granville Sharp, and 
a reissue appeared at Bath, England, in 1847, form- 
ing the fifth volume of Hall's " Reliquiae Liturgi- 
cse"; while an edition following the English reprint 
of 1789, but omitting the Visitation Office and the 
Articles, was published in IS'ew-York in 1873 in 
the interest of the " Cummins schism." Such 
is, in brief, the history of this hasty, crude, and 
unsatisfactory compilation, which failed utterly to 
establish itself in the American church. It was, 
and will ever be, only the " Projposed Book "; and 
the question of its adoption was not even considered 
by the following General Conventions. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 43 



THE CONYEIS'TIOI^S OF 1786. 

On Tuesday, tlie 20tli of June, 1786, the Con- 
vention, agreeably to previous appointment, as- 
sembled in Christ Church, Philadelphia, and on 
the Thursday following organized, by the choice of 
the Rev. David Griffith, of Yirginia, as president, 
and the Hon. Francis Hopkinson as secretary. We 
have in Bishop "White's* own words allusion to the 
fact that " the Convention assembled under cir- 
cumstances, which bore strong appearances of a 
dissolution of the union, in this early stage of it." 
The answer of the English Archbishops and 
Bishops had been cautious. There had grown up a 
jealousy, partly on political and partly on personal 
grounds, in the minds of some of the members of 
the Convention, of the Bishop of Connecticut ; and 
the Convention of l!^ew-York, under the inspira- 
tion of Mr. Provoostf , had instructed its deputies 
" not to consent to any acts that may imply the 
validity of Dr. Seabury's ordinations." The session 
of 1786 was barely opened when the Eev. Robert 
Smith, afterwards the hrst Bishop of South-Caro- 
lina, offered a resolution evidently intended to 
bring into dispute the validity of the Scottish Epis- 
copacy, and the question was raised at a subse- 
quent stage of the proceedings. But the judicious 
application of *' the previous question" checked 

* Memoirs, p. 115. 

f Ftrfe Connecticut Church Documents, II., pp. 298, 299. 



44 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

the debate, and the Convention declined to " enter 
into the opposition to the Scottish succession," * 
which, so far as the clergy were concerned, was 
confined to the Kev. -Mr. Provoost and the Eev. 
Kobert Smith. A resolution was carried unani- 
mously, on the motion of the Rev. Dr. White, 
recommending the church in the States represented 
not to receive to the pastoral charge clergymen 
professing canonical subjection to any Bishop other 
than those who may be settled in these States 
respectively. This resolution was offered to meet 
the allegation made on the floor of Convention that 
Bishop Seabury required a pledge of canonical 
obedience from those who received Holy Orders at 
his hands, wherever they might reside. But the 
charge was denied by a deputy who had been 
ordained by the Bishop of Connecticut, and since, 
as Bishop White expressly states, there was never 
" any ground "f for the measures than this appre- 
hension, the resolution was carried without opposi- 
tion. The unfriendliness of this action and the 
spirit which prompted the persistent opposition of 
Provoost and Robert Smith to Bishop Seabury, 
were followed by years of alienation and dissension 
which came but little short of perpetuating a 
schism in the infant Church. 

The letter from England, though cautious, was 
not discouraging, and a reply was at once prepared 
acknowledging the kindness of the communication, 
renewing the request for the succession, and repeat- 



* Bisliop White, Memoirs, p. 116. 

f Memoirs, p. 116. Connecticut Church Documents, II., p. 
300. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 45 

ing the assurances previously given of attachment 
to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the 
Mother Church. This address, drafted by the Rev. 
Dr. "William Smith, but modified on the motion of 
the Hon. John Jay, is as follows : 



To THE Most Reyerend and Right Reverend Fathers 
IN God, the Archbishops and Bishops of the Church 
OP England. 

Most Wortliy and Venerable Prelates : 

We, the Clerical and Lay Deputies of the Protestant Episco- 
pal Church in the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl- 
vania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina, have 
received the friendly and affectionate letter which your Lord- 
ships did us the honour to write on the 24th day of February, 
and for which we request you to accept our sincere and grateful 
acknowledgments. 

It gives us pleasure to be assured, that the success of our 
application will probably meet with no greater obstacles than 
what have arisen from doubts respecting the extent of the 
alterations we have made and proposed ; and we are happy to 
learn, that as no political impediments oppose us here, those 
which at present exist in England may be removed. 

While doubts remain of our continuing to hold the same es- 
sential articles of faith and discipline with the Church of Eng- 
land, we acknowledge the propriety of suspending a compli- 
ance with our request. 

We are unanimous and explicit in assuring your Lordships, 
that we neither have departed, nor propose to depart from the 
doctrines of your Church. We have retained the same disci- 
pline and forms of worship as far as was consistent with our 
civil Constitutions ; and we have made no alterations or omis- 
sions in the Book of Common Prayer but such as that considera- 
tion prescribed, and such as were calculated to remove objec- 
tions which it appeared to us more conducive to union and 
general content to obviate than to dispute. It is well known, 
that many great and pious men of the Church of England 
have long wished for a revision of the Liturgy, which it was 



46 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

deemed imprudent to hazard, lest it might become a precedent 
for repeated and improper alterations. This is with us the 
proper season for such a revision. We are now settling and 
ordering the affairs of our Church, and if wisely done, we shall 
have reason to promise ourselves all the advantages that can 
result from stability and union. 

We are anxious to complete our Episcopal system by means 
of the Church of England. We esteem and prefer it, and with 
gratitude acknowledge the patronage and favours for which, 
while connected, we have constantly been indebted to that 
Church. These considerations, added to that of agreement in 
faith and worship, press us to repeat our former request, and 
to endeavour to remove your present hesitation, by sending you 
our proposed Ecclesiastical Constitution and Book of Common 
Prayer. 

These documents, we trust, will afford a full answer to every 
question that can arise on the subject. We consider your 
Lordships' letter as very candid and kind. We repose full 
confidence in the assurance it gives ; and that confidence, to- 
gether with the liberality and cathohcism of your venerable 
body, leads us to flatter ourselves, that you will not disclaim 
a branch of your Church merely for having been, in your 
Lordships' opinion, if that should be the case, pruned rather 
more closely than its separation made absolutely necessary. 

We have only to add, that as our Church in sundry of these 
States have already proceeded to the election of persons to be 
sent for consecration, and others may soon proceed to the same, 
we pray to be favoured with as speedy an answer to this our 
second address, as in your great goodness you were pleased to 
give to our former one. 

We are, 
With great and sincere respect. 

Most worthy and venerable Prelates, 
Your obedient and 

Very humble servants. 
Signed by the President and Members 
OF THE Convention. 

In Convention : 
Christ Church, Philadelphia, 
June 26, 1786. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUKCH. 47 

This application went on its mission with no 
little advantage from the j)assage by the Convention 
of certain alterations in the constitution which 
rendered it more acceptable to the English pre- 
lates. These changes we give as an important 
part of the history of this important document, 
as well as revealing an increased conservatism on 
the part of the American Church. A comparison 
with the constitution of 1785, as given before, will 
put the reader in possession of the constitution as 
submitted to the English prelates, and will indicate 
the tendency towards sounder views which prevailed 
at this session. 

The Preamble, contained in three clauses or sec- 
tions, was agreed to without alteration. 

In Sect. I., '' Of the Constitution," the triennial 
meetings of the General Convention were changed 
from the third Tuesday in June to the fourth Tues- 
day in July. 

In Sect. 11. , after the words '^ of each Order," the 
words " chosen by the Convention of each State " 
were inserted. 

Sects. III. and lY. were agreed to. 

In Sect. Y., from the w^ords " this general Eccle- 
siastical Constitution," dele the word " general," 
and insert the same before the word " Convention," 
in the next line, so that the sentence will read thus 
— "he shall be considered as a member of the 
General Convention ex officio, and a Eishop shall 
always preside in the General Convention, if any 
of the Episcopal Order be present." 

In Sect. YL, dele the words " by the respective 



48 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Conventions," and insert "by the Convention of 
that State." After the words " to ordain or con- 
lirm," insert " or perform any other act of the Epis- 
copal office." 

Sect. yil. agreed to. 
' Sect. YIII., after the words — " equitable mode 
of trial," add these words, — " And at every trial of 
a Bishop, there shall be one or more of the Episco- 
pal Order present; and none but a Bishop shall 
pronounce sentence of deposition or degradation 
from the Ministry on any Clergyman, whether 
Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon." 

In Sect. IX. Instead of the words, " to be the 
desire," insert " to be the general desire." After 
the words, " therefore the," dele the whole subse- 
quent part of the section, and in place thereof in- 
sert as follows : " Book of Common Prayer and 
Administration of Sacraments, and other Rites and 
Ceremonies, as revised and proposed to the use of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church, at a Convention 
of the said Church, in the States of New-York, 
E'ew- Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, 
Virginia, and South-Carolina, may be used by this 
Church in such of the States as have adopted, or 
may adopt, the same in their particular Conven- 
tions, till further provision is made in this case, by 
tlie first General Convention which shall assemble 
with sufficient power to ratify a Book of Common 
Prayer for the Church in these States." 

In Sect. X. dele the whole of this section, and in 
place thereof insert as follows : 

" No person shall be ordained until due examina- 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 49 

tion had by the Bishop and two Presbyters, and 
exhibiting testimonials of his moral conduct for three 
years past, signed by the Minister and a majority 
of the Yestry of the Church where he last resided ; 
or permitted to officiate as a Minister in this Church 
until he has exhibited his Letters of Ordination 
and subscribed the following declaration : ' I do 
believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New 
Testament to be the word of God, and to contain 
all things necessary to salvation : and I do solemnly 
engage to conform to the doctrines and worship of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church in these United 
States.' " 

In Sect. XI. dele the whole, and in place thereof 
insert as follows : 

" This Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the United States of America, when 
ratified by the Church in a majority of the States 
assembled in General Convention, with sufficient 
power for the purpose of such ratification, shall be 
unalterable by the Convention of any particular 
State, which hath been represented at the time of 
said ratification." 

From the title of the Constitution dele the word 
" Ecclesiastical." 

As Bishop "White well expresses it, " in the pre- 
ceding year, the points alluded to were determined 
on with too much warmth, and without investiga- 
tion proportioned to the importance of the subjects. 
The decisions of that day were now reversed — not 
to say without a division, but without even an op- 



50 THE GENERAL CONVEKTION 

position."* Among the influences tending to pro- 
mote this moderation, as we learn from Bishop 
White, was the presentation of a memorial from 
the Convention of the Church in ^New-Jersey, 
which by the freedom of its -criticisms upon the 
proceedings of the last Convention, and by its 
earnest advocacy of a change of action in cer- 
tain important particulars, " was among the causes 
which prevented the disorganizing of the Ame- 
rican Church." f The author of this Memorial 
was the Rev. Thomas Bradbury Chandler, D.D., 
the friend and correspondent of Seabury. Prior 
to adjournment, a Committee of Correspondence 
was appointed and empowered to call a General 
Convention, at Wilmington, in Delaware, when 
they should deem it necessary. The expected con- 
tingency was not long delayed. Soon after the 
rising of the Convention, a letter from the Arch- 
bishops came to hand ; long as it is, its importance 
can not be over-estimated ; it serves as a formal and 
authoritative " concordat " between the mother and 
the daughter Church accompanying the transmission 
of the long-desired Apostolic succession. 

To THE Committee of the General Convention at Phila- 
delphia, THE Rev. Dr. White, President, the Rev. Dr- 
Smith, the Rev. Mr. Provost, the Hon. James Duane, 
Samuel Powell, and Richard Peters, Esqrs. 

Mr. President and Gentlemen : 

Influenced by tlie same sentiments of fraternal regard ex- 
pressed by the Arclibisliops and Bisbops in tbeir answer to 

* Memoirs, p. 117. f Ibid. p. 120. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH 51 

your address, we desire you tor be persuaded, that if we liave 
not yet been able to comply with your request, the delay has 
proceeded from no tardiness on our part. The only cause of it 
has been the uncertainty in which we were left by receiving 
your address, unaccompanied by those communications with re- 
gard to your Liturgy, Articles and Ecclesiastical Constitution, 
without the knowledge of which we could not presume to ap- 
ply to the Legislature for such powers as were necessary to the 
completion of your wishes. The Journal of your Convention, 
and the first part of your Liturgy, did not reach us till more 
than two months after our receipt of your address ; and we 
were not in possession of the remaining part of it, and of your 
articles, until the last day of April. The whole of your com- 
munications was then, with as little delay as possible, taken 
into consideration at a meeting of the Archbishops and fifteen 
of the Bishops, being all who were then in London and able 
to attend ; and it was impossible not to observe with concern, 
that if the essential doctrines of our common faith were retain- 
ed, less respect, however, was paid to our Liturgy than its own 
excellence, and your declared attachment to it, had led us to 
expect : not to mention a variety of verbal alterations, of the 
necessity or propriety of which we are by no means satisfied, 
we saw with grief that two of the Confessions of our Christian 
faith, respectable for their antiquity, have been entirely laid 
aside ; and that even in that called the Apostles' Creed, an arti- 
cle is omitted which was thought necessary to be inserted, with 
a view to a particular heresy, in a very early age of the Church, 
and has ever since had the venerable sanction of universal re- 
ception. Nevertheless, as a proof of the sincere desire which 
we feel to continue in spiritual communion with the mem- 
bers of your Church in America, and to complete the Orders of 
your Ministry, and trusting that the communications which we 
shall make to you, on the subject of these and some other 
alterations, will have their desired eifect, we have, even 
under these circumstances, prepared a Bill for conveying to us 
the powers necessary for this purpose. It will in a few days 
be presented to Parliament, and we have the best reasons to 
hope that it will receive the assent of the Legislature. This 
Bill will enable the Archbishops and Bishops to give Episcopal 
consecration to the persons who shall be recommended, with- 



52 THE GENERAL CONVENTIOK 

out requiring from them any oaths or subscriptions inconsistent 
with the situation in which the late Revolution has placed 
them ; upon condition that the full satisfaction of the suffi- 
ciency of the persons recommended, which you offer to us in 
your address, be given to the Archbishops and Bishops. You 
will doubtless receive it as a mark both of our friendly dispo- 
sition toward you, and of our desire to avoid all delay on this 
occasion, that we have taken this earliest opportunity of convey- 
ing to you this intelligence, and that we proceed (as supposing 
ourselves invested with that power which for your sakes we have 
requested) to state to you particularly the several heads upon 
which that satisfaction which you offer will be accepted, and the 
mode in which it may be given. The anxiety which is shown by 
the Church of England to prevent the intrusion of unqualified 
persons into even the inferior offices of our Ministry, confirms 
our own sentiments, and points it out to be our duty, very earn- 
estly to require the most decisive proofs of the qualifications of 
those who may be offered for admission to that Order to Avhich 
the superintendence of those offices is committed. At our 
several Ordinations of a Deacon and a Priest, the candidate 
submits himself to the examination of the Bishop as to his pro- 
ficiency in learning ; he gives the proper security of his sound- 
ness in the Faith by the subscriptions which are made previous- 
ly necessary ; he is required to bring testimonials of his vir- 
tuous conversation during the three preceding years ; and that 
no mode of inquiry may be omitted, public notice of his offer- 
ing himself to be ordained is given in the Parish church where 
he resides or ministers, and the people are solemnly called 
upon to declare if they know any impediment, for the which 
he ought not to be admitted. At the time of Ordination, too, 
the same solemn call is made on the congregation then present. 
Examination, subscription, and testimonials are not indeed 
repeated at the consecration of an English bishop, because the 
person to be consecrated has added to the securities given at 
his former ordinations, that sanction which arises from his 
having constantly lived and exercised his ministry under the 
eyes and observation of his country. But the objects of our 
present consideration are very differently circumstanced ; thei? 
sufficiency in learning, the soundness of their faith, and th*' 
purity of their manners, are not matters of notoriety here- 



OF THE AMERICAN CPIURCIf. 53 

Means, therefore, must be foand to satisfy the Archbishop who 
consecrates, and the Bishops who present them, that, in the 
words of our Church, ' ' they be apt and meet for their learning 
and godly conversation, to exercise their ministry duly to the 
honour of God and the edifying- of his Church, and to be 
wholesome examples and patterns to the flock of Christ. " 

With regard to the first qualification, sufficiency in good 
learning, we apprehend that the subjecting a person, who is to 
be admitted to the office of a Bishop in the Church, to that ex- 
amination which is required previous to the ordination of Priests 
and Deacons, might lessen that reverend estimation which 
ought never to be separated from the Episcopal character : we 
therefore do not require any further satisfaction on this point, 
than will be given to us by the forms of testimonials in the an- 
nexed paper,* fully trusting that those who sign them will ba 
well aware, how greatly incompetence in this respect must les- 
sen the weight and authority of the Bishop and afEect the credit 
of the Episcopal Church. 

Under the second head, that of subscription, our desire is to 
require that subscription only to be repeated, which you have 
already been called upon to make by the Tenth Article of your 
Ecclesiastical Constitution : but we should forget the duty 
which we owe to our own Church, and act inconsistently with 
that sincere regard which we bear to yours, if we were not ex- 
plicit in declaring, that, after the disposition we have shown 
to comply with the prayer of your address, we think it now in- 
cumbent upon you to use your utmost exertions also for the 
removal of any stumbling-block of offence which may possibly 
prove an obstacle to the success of it. We therefore most 
earnestly exhort you, that previously to the time of your 
making such subscription, you restore to its integrity the 
Apostles' Creed, in which you have omitted an article, merely, 
as it seems, from misapprehensiou of the sense in which it is 
understood by our Church ; nor can we help adding, that we 
hope you will think it but a decent proof of the attachment 
which you profess to the services of your Liturgy, to give to 
the other two Creeds a place in your Book of Common Prayer, 

* These Testimonials, which are still in use, are not ap- 
pended. 



54 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

even though the use of them should be left discretional. We 
should be inexcusable, too, if, at the time when yoa are re- 
(^uesting the establishment of Bishops in your Church, we did 
not strongly represent to you that the Eighth Article of your Ec- 
clesiastical Constitution appears to us to be a degradation of 
the Clerical, and still more of the Episcopal character. We 
persuade ourselves, that in your ensuing Convention some al- 
teration will be thought necessary in this article, before this 
reaches you ; or, if not, that due attention will be given to it 
in consequence of our representation. 

On the third and last head, which respects purity of manners, 
the reputation of the Church, both in England and America, 
and the interest of our common Christianity, is so deeply 
concerned in it, that we feel it our indispensable duty to pro- 
vide, on this subject, the most effectual securities. It is pre- 
sumed, that the same previous public notice of the intention of 
the person to be consecrated, will be given in the Church where 
he resides in America, for the same reasons, and therefore 
nearly in the same form with that used in England before our 
Ordinations. The call upon the persons present at the time of 
consecration, must be deemed of little use before a congrega- 
tion composed of those to whom the person to be consecrated is 
unknown. The testimonials signed by persons living in Eng- 
land admit of reference and examination, and the characters of 
those who give them are subject to scrutiny, and in cases of 
criminal deceit to punishment. In proportion as these circum- 
stances are less applicable to testimonials from America, those 
testimonials must be more explicit, and supported by a greater 
number of signatures. We therefore think it necessary that 
the several persons, candidates for Episcopal consecration, 
should bring to us, both a testimonial from the General Con- 
vention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, with as many sig- 
natures as can be obtained, and a more particular one, from the 
respective Conventions in those States which recommend them. 
It will appear from the tenor of the letters testimonial used in 
England, a form of which is annexed, that the ministers who 
sign them bear testimony to the qualifications of the candidates 
on their own personal knowledge. Such a testimony is not to 
be expected from the members of the General Convention 
of the Episcopal Church in America on this occasion. We 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 55 

think it sufficient, tlierefore, that tliey declare they know no 
impediment, but believe the person to be consecrated is oi a 
virtuous life and sound faith. We have sent you such a form 
as appears to us proper to be used for that purpose. More 
specific declarations must be made by the members of the Con- 
vention in each State from which the persons offered for conse- 
cration are respectively recommended ; their personal know- 
ledge of them there can be no doubt of ; we trust, therefore, 
they will have no objection to the adoption of the form of a 
testimonial which is annexed, and drawn upon the same princi- 
ples, and containing the same attestations of personal know- 
ledge with that above mentioned, as required previously to our 
Ordinations. We trust we shall receive these testimonials 
signed by such a majority in each Convention that recommend, 
as to leave no doubt of the fitness of the candidates upon the 
minds of those whose consciences are concerned in the consecra- 
tion of them. 

Thus much we have thought it right to communicate to you, 
without reserve, at present, intending to give you farther in- 
formation as soon as we are able. In the mean time, we pray 
God to direct your counsels in this very weighty matter, and 
are, 

Mr. President and gentlemen. 

Your affectionate Brethren, 

J. CANTUAR. 

W. EBOR. 

Another letter, brief, but to the point, continued 
and concluded this interesting correspondence : 
To THE Committee of the General Convention, etc., 

ETC. 

Canterbury, July 4th, 1786. 
Gentlemen : 

The enclosed Act being now passed, I have the satisfaction 
of communicating it to you. It is accompanied by a copy of a 
letter, and some forms of testimonials, which I sent you by the 
packet of last month. It is the opinion here, that no more 
than three bishops should be consecrated for the United States 



66 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

of America, who may consecrate others at their return, if more 
be found necessary. But whether we can consecrate any or 
not, must yet depend on the answers we may receive to what 
we have written. 

I am your humble servant, 

J. CANTUAR. 

Copies of these letters, forwarded bj post or by 
special messengers, bore north and south the assur- 
ance that the wish of the American Church for the 
Episcopate in the English line, wanted but a little 
of full accomplishment, and the mails shortly car- 
ried far and wide the call for the reassembling of 
the Convention for immediate action to secure this 
end. 

On the 10th of October the Convention met. 
The president, the Kev. Dr. Griffith, being absent, 
the Kev. Dr. Provoost presided. Tlie session of 
this adjourned meeting was brief, lasting but two 
days, but its action, which we give below, Avas of 
marked importance : 

An Act of the General Convention of Clerical and 
Lay Deputies of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
IN the States of New- York, New-Jersey, Pennsyl- 
vania, Delaware, and South-Carolina, held at Wil- 
mington, IN the State of Delaware, on Wednesday 
the llTH OP October, 1786. 

Whereas, at a General Convention of Clerical and I-iay De- 
puties of the Protestant Episcopal Church in sundry of the 
United States of America, viz., New-York, New-Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and South-Caro- 
lina, holden at the City of Philadelphia, on the Tuesday before 
the Feast of St. Michael, in the year of our Lord 1785, and divers 
subsequent days, it was agreed and declared, that, " The Book 
of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and 



OF TPIE AMERICAN CHURCH. 57 

other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, according to the use 
of the Church of England," should be continued to he used by 
this Church, as the same was altered by the said Convention, 
in a certain instrument of writing, passed by their authority, 
entituled, " Alterations of the Liturgy of the Protestant Episco- 
pal Church in the United States of America, in order to render 
the same conformable to the American Revolution, and the Con- 
stitutions of the respective States." And it was further agreed 
and declared, that the Book of Common Prayer and Adminis- 
tration of the Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of 
the Church, according to the use of the Church of England, as 
altered by an instrument of writing passed under the authority 
of the aforesaid Convention, entituled, *' Alterations in the Book 
of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments and 
other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, according to the use 
of the Church of England, proposed and recommended to the 
Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, 
should be used in this Church, when the same should have been 
ratified by the Conventions which had respectively sent deputies 
to the said General Convention." And thereupon the said Con- 
vention, anxious to compleat their Episcopal system by means 
of the Church of England, did subscribe and transmit an 
address to the Most Reverend and Right Reverend the Arch- 
bishops of Canterbury and York, and the Bishops of the Church 
of England, earnestly entreating that venerable body to confer 
the Episcopal character on such persons as should be recom- 
mended by this Church in the several States so represented. 

And whereas the Clerical and Lay Deputies of this Church, 
have received the most friendly and affectionate letters, in an- 
swer to th3 said address, from the said Archbishops and Bishops, 
opening a fair prospect of the success of their said applications, 
but at the same time earnestly exhorting this Convention to 
use their utmost exertions for the removal of certain pbjections 
by them made, against some parts of the alterations in the 
Book of Common Prayer and Rites and Ceren^onies of this 
Church, last mentioned. In pursuance whereof, this present 
General Convention hath been called and is now assembled : 
and being sincerely desirous to give every satisfaction to their 
Lordships which will be consistent with the ui^ion and general 
content of the Church they represent, and declaring their stead- 



58 THE GENEltAL CONVENTION 

fast resolution to maintain the same essential Articles of Faith 
and Discipline with the Church of England : 

Now, therefore, the said Deputies do hereby determine and 
declare, 

First, — That in the Creed commonly called the Apostles' 
Creed, these words, " He descended into Hell," shall be and 
continue a part of that Creed. 

Secondly, — That the Nicene Creed shall also be inserted in 
the said Book of Common Prayer, immediately after the Apos- 
tles' Creed, prefaced with the Rubrick (or this). 

And whereas, — In consequence of the objections expressed 
by their Lordships to the alterations in the Book of Common 
Prayer last mentioned, the Conventions in some of the States 
represented in this General Convention have suspended the 
ratification and use of the said Book of Common Prayer, by 
reason whereof it will be improper that persons to be conse- 
crated or ordained as Bishops, Priests, or Deacons respectively, 
should subscribe the declaration contained in the Tenth Article 
of the General Ecclesiastical Constitution without some modi- 
fication : 

Therefore, it is hereby determined and declared, 

Thirdly, — That the second clause so to be subscribed by 
a Bishop, Priest, or Deacon of this Church, in any of the States 
which have not already ratified or used the last-mentioned 
Book of Common Prayer, shall be in the words following : 
" And I do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrine and wor- 
ship of the Protestant Episcopal Church, according to the use 
of the Church of England, as the same is altered by the General 
Convention, in a certain instrument of writing passed by their 
authority, entituled, ' Alterations of the Liturgy of the Protes- 
ant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, in order 
to render the same conformable to the American Revolution, 
and the Constitutions of the respective States,' until the new 
Book of Common Prayer, recommended by the General Con- 
vention, shall be ratified or used in. the State in which I am 
— (Bishop, Priest, or Deacon, as tlie case m \y he) — by the au- 
thority of the Convention thereof. And 1 do further solemnly 
engage, that when the said new Book of Common Prayer shall 
be ratified or used by the authority of the Convention in the 
State for which I am consecrated a Bishop — (or ordained a 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 59 

Priest or Deacon) — I will conform to the doctrines and worship 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church, as settled and determined 
in the last-mentioned Book of Common Prayer and Adminis- 
tration of the Sacraments, set forth by the General Convention 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States." 
And it is hereby further determined and declared, 
That these words in the Preface to the new proposed Book 
of Common Prayer, viz., "In the Creed, commonly called 
'the Apostles Creed,' one clause is omitted, as being of uncer- 
tain meaning, and " — together with the note referred to in that 
place, be, from henceforth, no part of the Preface to the said 
proposed Book of Common Prayer. 

And it is hereby further determined and declared. 
That the Fourth Article of Religion in the new proposed 
Book of Common Prayer, be altered to render it conformable 
to the adoption of the Nicene Creed, as follows : " Of the 
Creeds. The two Creeds, namely, that commonly called the 
Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed, ought to be received and 
believed, because they," etc., etc. 

Done in General Convention, at Wilmington, in the 
State of Delaware, the day and year first aforesaid. 

The votes on the question as to the restoration 
of the words " He descended into Hell," in the 
Apostles' Creed, were as follows : 

New- York. — Rev. Dr. Provoost, Aye ; Mr. Duane, Aye ; Mr. 
Rutherford, No. — Divided. 

New-Jersey.— Rev. Mr. Ogden, Aye ; Rev. Mr. Frazer, Aye ; 
Mr. Wallace, Aye ; Mr. Cox, No ; Mr. Waddel, Aye. —Aye. 

Pennsylvania. — Rev. Dr. White, Aye ; Rev. Dr. Magaw, 
Aye ; Rev. Mr. Blackwell, Aye ; Mr. Hopkinson, No ; Mr. 
Powel, No ; Mr. Gilpin, No. — Divided. 

Delaware. — Rev. Dr. Wharton, No ; Rev. Mr. Thorne, Aye; 
Mr. Sykes, Aye ; Mr. Grantham, No. — Divided. 

South-Carolina. — Rev. Robert Smith, Aye ; Mr. Rutledge, 
Aye. — Aye. 

The adoption of the report of the committee on 
this question was the result, not of a majority of 



60 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

votes in its favor, but of the nullity of the votes of 
those churches in which the clergy and the laity were 
divided. The vote restoring the ]^icene Creed was 
unanimous. On the question of admitting the 
Creed commonly called the Athanasian, the votes 
were as follows : 

New- York, — Rev. Dr. Provoost, No ; Mr. Diiane, No ; Mr. 
Rutherford, No. — Nay. 

New- Jersey. — Rev. Mr. Ogden, No ; Rev. Mr. Frazer, No ; 
Mr. Cox, No ; Mr. Wallace, Aye ; Mr.Waddel, Aye. — Divided. 

Pennsylvania. — Rev. Dr. White, No ; Rev. Dr. Magaw, 
No ; Rev. Mr. Blackwell, No ; Mr. Hopkinson, No ; Mr. Powel, 
No ; Mr. Gilpin, No. — Nay. 

Delaware. — Rev. Dr. Wharton, No ; Rev. Mr. Thome, Aye ; 
Mr. Sykes, No ; Mr. Grantham, No. — Divided. 

South-Carolina. — Rev. Robert Smith, No ; Mr. Rutledge, 
No. — Nay. 

And so it was determined in the negative. 

At this Convention the testimonials of the Rev. 
Dr. White, as Bishop-elect of Pennsylvania, the Rev. 
Dr. Provoost, as Bishop-elect of New- York, and the 
Rev. Dr. Griffith, as Bishop-elect of Yirginia, were 
signed by the members; and, though there is no 
mention of the fact in the records,* the application 
of the Rev. Dr. William Smith, the Bishop -elect of 
Maryland, for a similar recommendation, as we learn 
from the Bishop White mss., was refused. Dr. 
Smith, though present at the Convention, was de- 
prived of his vote, it being decided that a clerical 
or lay delegate only could not represent a State. 

* Bishop White in his Memoirs passes over this occurrence 
in silence, unless a paragraph on p. 132 should be construed as 
referrins: to it. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 61 

The refusal to recommend Dr. Smith for consecra- 
tion was occasioned bj the charge of irregularities 
in life. It speaks well for the courage of the mem- 
bers of this Convention that they could thus refuse, 
on moral grounds, to gratify the ambition of per- 
haps the foremost man in intellect and reputation 
in the churches represented therein. It is also to 
be remembered, that the disappointed candidate for 
the Church's highest honors, displayed in after life 
no rankling sense of this severe rebuke, and no di- 
minution of his zeal for the Church for which he 
had labored so long. As has well been said by a dis- 
tinguished prelate of our Church, the late Bishop 
Burgess of Maine, " 'No assembly of the American 
Church has occupied itself with transactions of 
greater pregnancy than those which in October, 
1786, were settled by the voices of twenty men in 
two days." 

On Tuesday, the 2d of l^ovember, 1786, the Kev. 
Drs. White and Provoost embarked for England, 
and after a passage of three weeks, landed at Fal- 
mouth. The story of the various steps preceding 
the consecration is detailed in Bishop White's Me- 
moirs of the Church. The solemn act of conferring 
the long-sought Apostolical succession on the Ame- 
rican candidates, took place in the chapel of Lam- 
beth Palace, on Sunday, the 4:th of February, 1787. 
The two Archbishops, and the Bishops of Bath and 
Wells, and Peterborough, united in the imposition 
of hands. On the evening of the following day, 
the Bishops of Pennsylvania and N^ew-York left 
London on their homeward journey, and after a voy- 



62 THE GENEEAL CONVENTION 

age of seven weeks, landed at IS'ew-York on the after- 
noon of Easter Sunday, April the 7th. Thus was 
completed the " struggle for the Episcopate" in the 
English line. It may not be out of place to quote, in 
passing, the words of the sagacious Parker, of Bos- 
ton, afterwards Bishop of Massachusetts, addressed 
to White. " I am firmly of the opinion that we 
should never have obtained the succession from 
England, had he, [Bishop Seabury,] or some other, 
not have obtained it first from Scotland."* 

^Coun. Cli. Documents^ ii., p. 801. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 63 



THE CO]SrYE]srTIOE"S OF 1789, 

As the three eventful years subsequent to the 
Conventions of 1786 were drawing to a close, 
measures were taken at the suggestion of Bishop 
"White, and under the direction of Dr. Parker, for 
a union of the churches in New-England with 
those in the Middle and Southern States. These 
efforts took form in the following application to the 
Convention of 1789, which assembled on 28tli of 
July, under the presidency of the Bishop of Penn- 
sylvania, Bishop Provoost being absent : 

The good providence of Almighty God, tlie fountain of all 
goodness, having lately blessed the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the United States of America, by supplying it with 
a complete and entire Ministry, and affording to many of her 
communion the benefit of the labours, advice, and government 
of the successors of the Apostles : 

We, Presbyters of said Church in the States of Massachusetts 
and New- Hampshire, deeply impressed with the most lively grat- 
itude to the Supreme Governor of the universe, for his goodness 
in this respect, and with the most ardent love to his Church, 
and concern for the interest of her sons, that they may enjoy 
all the means that Christ, the great Shepherd and Bishop of 
souls, has instituted for leading his followers into the ways of 
truth and holiness, and preserving his Church in the unity of 
the spirit and the bond of peace, to the end that the people 
committed to our respective charges may enjoy the benefit and 
advantage of those oflBices, the administration of which belongs 
to the highest Order of the Ministry, and to encourage and 
promote, as far as in us lies, a union of the whole Episcopal 



64 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Churcli in these States, and to perfect and compact this mys- 
tical body of Clirist, do hereby nominate, elect, and appoint, 
the Rev, Edward Bass, a Presbyter of said Church, and Rec- 
tor of St. Paul's, in Newburyport, to be our Bishop ; and we 
do promise and engage to receive him as such, when canonical- 
]y consecrated, and invested with the apostolic office and 
powers by the Right Reverend the Bishops hereafter named, 
and to render him all that canonical obedience and submission 
which, by the laws of Christ, and the constitution of our 
Church, is due to so important an oifice. 

And we now address the Right Reverend the Bishops in the 
States of Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania, praying 
their united assistance in consecrating our said brother, and 
canonically investing him with the apostolic office and powers. 
This request we are induced to make, from a long acquaint- 
ance with him, and from a perfect knowledge of his being 
possessed of that love to God, and benevolence to men, that 
piety, learning, and good morals, that prudence and discretion, 
requisite to so exalted a station, as well as that personal respect 
and attachment of the communion at large in these States, 
which will make him a valuable acquisition to the Order, and, 
we trust, a rich blessing to the Church. 

Done at a meeting of the Presbyters whose names are under- 
written, held at Salem, in the County of Essex, and Common- 
wealth of Massachusetts, the fourth day of June, Anno Salutis, 
1789. 

Samuel Parker, Rector of Trinity Church, Boston. 

T. Fitch Oliver, Rector of St. Michael's Church, Mar- 
blehead. 

John Cousens Ogden, Rector of Queen's Chapel, Ports- 
mouth, N. H. 

William Montague, Minister of Christ Church, Boston. 

TiLLOTSON Brunson, Assistant Minister of Christ 
Church, Boston. 
A true copy. Attest : Samuel Parker. 

At the meeting aforesaid, 

Voted, — That the Rev. Samuel Parker be authorised and 
empowered to transmit copies of the foregoing Act, to be by 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 65 

him attested, to the Right Reverend the Bishops in Connecti- 
cut, New- York, and Pennsylvania ; and that he be appointed 
our agent, to appear at any Convocation to be holden at Penn- 
sylvania or New- York, and to treat upon any measures that 
may tend to promote an union of the Episcopal Church 
throughout the United States of America, or that may prove 
advantageous to the interests of said Church. 

EDWARD BASS, Chaikman. 
A true copy. Attest : Samuel Parker. 

The Convention, as we learn from Bishop 
White,* " manifested a strong desire of complying 
with " this request. The sole obstacle to the plan 
arose from the implied obligation on the part of 
the two Bishops in the English line to complete the 
Canonical number (three) in the same line ere pro- 
ceeding to transmit the powers they had received. 
After a week's discussion, the Convention adopted 
the following resolutions : 

1st. Resolved, — That a complete Order of Bishops, derived 
as well under the English as the Scots line of Episcopacy, doth 
now subsist within the United States of America, in the per- 
sons of the Right Rev. William White, D.D., Bishop of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of Pennsylvania ; 
the Right Rev. Samuel Provoost, D.D., Bishop of the said 
Church in the State of New- York, and the Right Rev. Samuel 
Seabury, D.D., Bishop of said Church in the State of Con- 
necticut. 

2d. Resolved, — That the said three Bishops are fully com- 
petent to every proper act and duty of the Episcopal office and 
character in these United States, as well in respect to the con- 
secration of other Bishops, and the ordering of Priests and 
Deacons, as for the government of the Church, according to 
such rules, Canons, and institutions as now are, or hereafter 
may be, duly made and ordained by the Church in that case. 

♦ Memoirs, p. 143. 



6Q THE GENEEAL CONVENTION 

dd. Resolved, — That in Christian charity, as well aa of duty, 
necessity, and expediency, the Churches represented in this 
Convention ought to contribute, in every manner in their 
power, towards supplying the wants, and granting every just 
and reasonable request of their sister Churches in these States ; 
and, therefore, 

Ath. Resolved, — That the Right Rev. Dr. White and the 
Right Rev. Dr. Provoost be, and they hereby are, requested to 
join with the Right Rev. Dr. Seabury, in complying with the 
prarer of the Clergy of the States of Massachusetts and New 
Hampshire, for the consecration of the Rev. Edward Bass, 
Bishop-elect of the Churches in the said States ; but, that 
before the said Bishops comply with the request aforesaid, it 
be proposed to the Churches in the New-England States to 
meet the Churches of these States, with the said three Bishops, 
in an adjourned Convention, to settle certain articles of union 
and discipline among all the churches, previous to such con- 
secration. 

^th. Resolved, — That if any difficulty or delicacy, in respect 
to the Archbishops and Bishops of England, shall remain with 
"^he Right Rev. Drs. White and Provoost, or either of them, 
concerning their compliance with the above request, this Con- 
vention will address the Archbishops and Bishops, and hope 
thereby to remove the difficulty. 

This action, and the unanimous expression by 
formal resolution* of confidence in the validity of 
Bishop Seabury's consecration, led the way to union. 
The other business of this session, which continued 

* We quote from the Journal this important resolution, 
which did away with the unfriendly action in 1786, to which 
we have earlier referred : 

" A letter was also read from the Right Rev. Dr. Seabury, 
Bishop of the Church in Connecticut, to the Right Rev. Dr. 
White, and one from the same gentleman to the Rev. Dr. 
Smith. 

' ' Upon reading the said letters, it appearing that Bishop 
Seabury lay under some misapprehensions concerning an entry 
in the Minutes of a former Convention, as intending some 
doubt of the validity of his consecration, 

" Resolved unanimously, — That it is the opinion of this Con- 
vention, that the consecration of the Right Rev. Dr. Seabury 
to the Episcopal office is valid. " 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 67 

for thirteen days, and in which seven States were 
represented by seventeen clergymen and sixteen 
laymen,* consisted in the adoption of an address 
to the President of the United States, and also an 
address to the Archbishops for their good offices in 
imparting the Episcopal offices to the American 
Church ; the adoption of Articles I., II., lY., Y., YI., 
YII. of the Constitution, as proposed at the last 
Convention as a rule of conduct for the present 
session, and the postponement of the consideration 
of the remaining articles, and the adoption of a 
body of Canons. These Canons we give in full : 

Canons for the Govehnment of the Pkotestant Epis- 
copal Church in the United States of America, 
agreed on and ratified in the General Convention 
of said Church, held in the City of Philadelphia, 
from the 28th Day of July to the 8th Day of 
August, 1789, inclusive. 

Canon 1. 
In this Churcli there shall always be three Orders in the 
Ministry, viz, , Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. 

Canon 2. 

Every Bishop elect, before his consecration, shall produce to 
the Bishops, to whom he is presented for that holy office, from 
the Convention by whom he is elected a Bishop, and from the 
General Convention, or a Committee of that body appointed to 
act in their recess, certificates, respectively in the following 
words, viz. : 
Testimony from the Members of the Convention in the State 

from whence the person is recommended for Consecration. 

We whose names are underwritten, fully sensible how im- 



* One of the lay deputies, Robert Andrews, of Virginia, a 
Professor in the College of William and Mary at Williams- 
burg, had received Holy Orders, but had relinquished the 
exercise of the Ministry. ( Vide White's Memoirs, p. 146.) 



68 THE GENERAL CONVEN'JION 

portant it is, that the sacred office of a Bishop should not be 
unworthily conferred, and firmly persuaded that it is our duty 
to bear testimony on this solemn occasion without partiality or 
affection, do, in the presence of Almighty God, testify, that A. 
B. is not, so far as we are informed, justly liable to evil report, 
either for error in religion or for viciousness of life ; and that 
we do not know or believe there is any impediment or notable 
crime for which he ought not to be consecrated to that holy 
office. We do, moreover, jointly and severally declare that, 
having personally known him for three years last past, we do 
in our consciences believe him to be of such sufficiency in 
good learning, such soundness in the faith, and of such vir- 
tuous and pure manners and godly conversation, that he is apt 
and meet to exercise the Office of a Bishop, to the honor of 
God and the edifying of his Church, and to be an wholesome 
example to the flock of Christ 

Testimony from the Oeneral Convention. 

We whose names are underwritten, fully sensible how im- 
portant it is that the sacred office of a Bishop should not be 
unworthily conferred, and firmly persuaded that it is our 
duty to bear our testimony on this solemn occasion without 
partiality or affection, do, in the presence of Almighty God, 
testify that A.B. is not, so far as we are informed, justly liable 
to evil report either for error in religion or for viciousness of 
life ; and that we do not know or believe there is any impedi- 
ment or notable crime, on account of which he ought not to be 
consecrated to that holy office, but that he hath, as we believe, 
led his life, for the three years last past, piously, soberly, and 
honestjy. 

t^ANON 3. 

Every Bishop in this Church shall, as often as may be con- 
venient, visit the churches within his Diocese or district, for 
the purposes of examining the state of his Church, inspecting 
the behavior of the clergy, and administering the apostolic 
rite of Confirmation. 

Canon 4. 

Deacon's Orders shall not be conferred on any person until 
he shall be twenty -one years old, nor Priest's Orders on any 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 69 

one until he shall be twenty-four years old ; and, except on 
urgent occasion, unless he hath been a Deacon one year. No 
man shall be consecrated a Bishop of this Church until he 
shall be thirty years old. 

Canon 5. 

No person shall be ordained either Deacon or Priest, unless 
he shall produce a satisfactory certificate from some Church, 
parish, or congregation, that he is engaged with them, and 
that they will receive him as their minister and allow him a 
reasonable support ; or unless he be engaged as a professor, 
tutor or instructor of youth, in some college, academy, or gene- 
ral seminary of learning, duly incorporated ; or unless the 
Standing Committee of the Church in the State for which he 
is to be ordained, shall certify to the Bishop their full belief 
and expectation, that he will be received and settled as a pas- 
tor by some one of the vacant churches in that State. 

Canon 6. 

Every candidate for Holy Orders shall be recommended to 
the Bishop by a Standing Committee of the Convention of the 
State wherein he resides, which recommendation shall be sign- 
ed by the names of a majority of the Committee, and shall be 
in the following words : 

We, whose names are hereunder written, testify that A. B, , 
for the space of three years last past, hath lived piously, so- 
berly, and honestly : Nor hath he at any time, as far as we 
know or believe, written, taught, or held, anything gontrary 
to the doctrine or discipline of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 
And, moreover, we think him a person worthy to be admitted 
to the sacred order of priest. In witness whereof we have 
hereunto set our hands. Dated the . . . day of . . . 
in the year of our Lord . . . 

But before a Standing Committee of any State shall proceed 
to recommend any candidate, as aforesaid, to the Bishop, such 
candidate shall produce testimonials of his good morals and or- 
derly conduct for three years last past, from the Minister and 
Vestry of the parish where he has resided, or from the Vestry 



70 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

alone if the parish be vacant — a publication of his intention to 
apply for Holy Orders having been previously made by such 

Minister or Vestry. 

Canon 7. 

In every State in which there is no Standing Committee, 
such Committee shall be appointed at its next ensuing Conven- 
tion ; and in the mean time, every candidate for Holy Orders 
shall be recommended according to the regulations or usage of 
the Church in each State, and the requisitions of the Bishop to 
whom he applies. 

Canon 8. 

No person shall be ordained in this Church until he shall 
have satisfied the Bishop and the two Presbyters, by whom he 
shall be examined, that he is sufficiently acquainted with the 
New Testament in the original Greek, and can give an account 
of his faith in the Latin tongue, either in writing or otherwise, 
as may be required. 

Canon 9. 

Agreeably to the practice of the primitive Church, the stated 
times of Ordination shall be on the Sundays following the Em- 
ber weeks, viz., the Second Sunday in Lent, the Feast of Tri- 
nity, and the Sundays after the Wednesdays following the 
fourteenth day of September and the thirteenth of December. 

Canon 10. 

No person, not a member of this Church, who shall profess 
to be episcopally ordained, shall be permitted to officiate there- 
in, until he shall have exhibited to the Vestry of the Church 
in which he shall ofEer to officiate, a certificate signed by the 
Bishop of the Diocese or district, or, where there is no Bishop, 
by three Clergymen of the Standing Committee of the Conven- 
tion of that State, that his Letters of Orders are authentic, and 
given by some Bishop whose authority is acknowledged by 
this Church, and also satisfactory evidence of his moral cha- 
racter. 

Signed, by order of the Convention, 

WILLIAM WHITE, 
Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Common- 
wealth of Pennsylvania, and President of the ConverUion^ 
Francis Hopkinson, Secretary. 



OF THE AMERICAN" CHURCH, 71 

During the session, the amiable Griffitli entered 
into rest. His relinquishment of the Episcopate of 
Yirginia, to which he had been elected, had been 
communicated to the Convention at its opening sit- 
ting. The circumstances occasioning this failure 
on the part of the Clnirch in Yirginia to secure the 
consecration of her first Bishop-elect, as they arc 
detailed in the correspondence of Bishop White,* 
reveal painful proofs of the decline of the Church 
in this State. 

At the adjourned Convention, which met on the 
29tli of September, and continued in session until 
the 16th of October, Bishop Seabury, with clerical 
deputies representing Connecticut, Massachusetts, 
and New-Hampshire, appeared, and, after effecting 
a modification of the third article of the Constitu- 
tion, so as to secure the right of the bishops, when 
sitting as a separate House, to originate and propose 
acts for the concurrence of the other House of Con- 
vention and a negative on the action of the Lower 
House, acceded to the Constitution, and took their 
seats as members of the Convention. There being, 
agreeably to the Constitution, the number of bishops 
requisite for the formation of a separate House, the 
two bishops present (Bishop Provoost being absent) 
withdrew and organized, with Bishop Seabury as 
President, and the Pev. Joseph Clarkson as Secre- 
tary. The House of Deputies elected the Kev. Dr. 
Smith as their President. 

The chief business of the session was the adop- 

* Among the archives of the Church. 



72 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

tion of a Liturgy. ISTo effort for the acceptance of 
tlie '' Proposed Book " was made. Dr. Parker, of 
Massachusetts, representing as he did the general 
sentiment at the Northward, urged that the Eng- 
lish Prayer Book should be made the ground of the 
proceedings, without any reference to the book ten- 
tatively set forth in 1785. And although this 
course was not formally adopted, the resolutions 
adopted were so worded as to imply that there was 
no book of authority in existence. The latitude of 
change this course seemed to indicate was lessened 
by the general disposition of the members of the 
Convention to vary the book as little as possible 
from the English model. 

The provision of a Prayer Book was assigned to 
five committees : one on the Calendar and Tables 
of Lessons, with the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels ; 
another on the Morning and Evening Service; a 
third on the Litany and occasional prayers and 
thanksgivings ; a fourth on the order for the admin- 
istration of the Holy Communion ; and a fifth to 
report in what manner the Psalms should be used. 
The reports of each committee, when adopted, were 
transmitted to the House of Bishops, from whence 
they were returned with amendments. From the 
bishops were received, in the first instance, the vari- 
ous Offices to be adopted for use in the American 
Church. The alterations, other than those of a po- 
litical nature, were mainly verbal, together with the 
omission of repetitions ; the addition of Selections 
of Psalms to be used at the discretion of the minis- 
ter ; an Office for the Visitation of Prisoners, from 



OF THE AMEEICAN CHURCH. 73 

the Irish Prayer Book ; a service of Prayer and 
Thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth, from the 
'' Proposed Book," and an Order of Family Prayer. 
Besides these, Bishop Seabnry secured the restora- 
tion to the Consecration Prayer of the Oblation and 
Invocation found in King Edward YI.'s First 
Prayer Book, and retained in the Scotch Office. In 
this restoration, he gained for the American Church 
a closer conformity in her Eucharistic office to the 
primitive forms, and fully answered the require- 
ment of the '' Concordat " he had signed on his con- 
secration, binding him to an effort to bring his 
Church in accord with the Scottish Church in this 
matter. The deliberations were conducted with 
great harmony, and the result was the setting forth 
of the present Book of Common Prayer, to be in use 
from the 1st of October, 1790. The adoption of the 
XXXIX Articles of Keligion of the Church of En- 
gland, excepting the XXXYIth and XXXYIIth, 
was proposed by the House of Bishops, but the 
consideration of this matter was finally referred 
to a subsequent Convention. The Psalms in metre, 
and twenty-seven hymns, the foundation of our late 
hymnal, were also set forth ; the canons were in- 
creased by the enactment of eight, requiring the 
exclusive use of the Prayer Book as now establish- 
ed, stating the duty of ministers in regard to Epis- 
copal visitations, directing the censure of notorious 
crimes and scandals, enforcing the sober conversa- 
tion required in ministers, providing for the due 
celebration of Sundays, the preparation of a regular 
list of the ministers of the Church, and the giving 



74: THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

notice of the induction and dismission of ministers. 
The union of the Churches having been thus hap- 
pily effected, and the validity of Bishop Seabury's 
consecration fully and unanimously endorsed by 
the Convention, the consecration of Dr. Bass, the 
Bishop-elect of Massachusetts, was not pressed at 
this time, and another year vt^itnessed the comple- 
tion of the canonical number of bishops in the An- 
glican line, by the consecration in England of Rev. 
Dr. Madison for Yirginia, who, with Bishops 
White and Provoost, and the Bishop of Connecti- 
cut, united in the consecration of Dr. Claggett at 
the next Convention in JSTew-York, in 1792, thus 
accomplishing the union of the two lines of succes- 
sion, which had been the object sought by the clergy 
of Massachusetts and J^ew-Hampshire in the elec- 
tion of Dr. Bass. 

The change in the Constitution which secured 
the adhesion of Seabury and the churchmen of ISTew- 
England was as follows : 

Art. 3. The Bishops of this Church, when there shall be 
three or more, shall, whenever General Conventions are held, 
form a separate House, with a right to originate and propose 
acts for the concurrence of the House of Deputies, composed 
of Clergy and Laity ; and when any proposed act shall have 
passed the House of Deputies, the same shall be transmitted to 
the House of Bishops, who shall have a negative thereupon, 
unless adhered to by four-fifths of the other House : and all 
acts of the Convention shall be authenticated by both Houses. 
And, in all cases, the House of Bishops shall signify to the 
Convention their approbation or disapprobation, the latter, 
with their reasons in writing, within three days after the pro- 
posed act shall have been reported to them for concurrence ; 
and, in failure thereof, it shall have the operation of a law. 
But until there shall be three or more Bishops, as aforesaid. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 75 

any Bisliop attending a General Convention, shall be a mem- 
ber ex officio, and shall vote with the Clerical Deputies of the 
State to which he belongs : and a Bishop shall then preside. 

This action, as we learn from Bishop White,* 
would have been more decided, and the House of 
Bishops invested with a full negative on the pro- 
ceedings of the House of Deputies, but for the op- 
position of a lay deputy from Yirginia. As it was, a 
resolution was adopted — 

That it be made known to the several State Conventions, that 
it is proposed to consider and determine, in the next General 
Convention, on the propriety of investing the House of Bishops 
with a full negative upon the proceedings of the other House. 

In this compromise the l^ew-England deputies 
finally acquiesced, and a single sheet of foolscap, 
preserved among the archives of the Church, which 
we give below, is the record of the formal union of 
the separated Churches in the land : 

We do hereby agree to the Constitution of the Church as 
modified this Day in the Convention, 3d October, 1789. 

Samuel Seabury, D.D., Bp., 
Eyl. Ch'ch Connect. 
Connecticut. 
Abraham Jarvis, A.M., 
Rector of Christ's Church, Middletoun. 

Bel A Hubbard, A.M., 
Rector of Trinity Church, New Haven. 
Samuel Parker, D.D. 
Rect' Trin^y Church, Boston, Massachusetts, & Clerical 
Deputy for Massachusetts & New Hampshire.^ 

* Memoirs, pp. 145, 146. 

f Copied verbatim et literatim from the original ms. in the 
keeping of the author. 



76 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

One measure, quite dear to Bishop Seabury's 
heart, was rejected. It was the permissorj use of 
the Athanasian Creed. This was agreed to by the 
House of Bishops, but negatived in the House of 
Deputies, who, even after conference with the 
Bishops, "would not allow of the Creed in any 
shape."^ Had its use been allowed, it was the 
avowed intention of the Bishop of Pennsylvania 
never to read it. The view of his brother of Con- 
necticut is concisely and clearly stated in a letter 
addressed by him to the Rev. Dr. Parker, after the 
Convention rose : 

With regard to tlie propriety of reading the Athanasian 
Creed, I never was fully convinced. With regard to the im- 
propriety of banishing it out of the Prayer Book, I am clear ; 
and I look upon it, that those gentlemen who rigidly insisted 
upon its being read as usual, and those who insisted on its 
being thrown out, both acted from the same uncandid, uncom- 
plying temper. They seemed to me to have aimed at forcing 
their own opinion on their brethren. And I do hope, though 
possibly I hope in vain, that Christian charity and love of 
union will some time bring that Creed into this book, were it 
only to stand as articles of faith stand, and to show that we 
do not renounce the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity, as held 
by the Western Church, f 

A misunderstanding between the two Houses, 
with respect to the mode of printing the clause in 
the Apostles' Creed, "He descended into Hell," 
gave occasion for uneasiness among the clergy at 
the North ; but at the next General Convention, in 

* Vide Bishop White's Memoirs, pp. 149, 150. 
f The original of this interesting letter is in the possession of 
the author. It is dated December 29, 1790. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 77 

1792, the matter was definitely settled as the House 
of Bishops originally intended, and as it now stands. 
In consequence of this misunderstanding, this clause 
appeared in the first edition of the new Prayer 
Book in italic letters, and between parenthetical 
marks. 

It is to be noted as a part of the history of the 
American Prayer Book and of this Convention, that 
the expedient of substituting the " Selections of 
Psalms " for the Psalter did not have the approval 
of the Bishops. Bishop White suggested, instead, 
the plan of giving " the officiating minister the lib- 
erty to select psalms at his discretion," and urged 
this course on the ground that it would avoid " the 
practice of reading the psalms, without any regard 
to their suitableness to the general circumstances 
and state of mind of a mixed congregation," while 
another argument was, " that the number and 
length of the psalms depending on the choice of the 
minister, there would be great encouragement to 
the introduction of the practice of singing this part 
of the service, instead of repeating the verses by 
the minister and the clerk alternately."* But, 
though some of the omissions were " capricious," and 
the selections " made with too little deliberation," 
the persistency of the House of Deputies prevailed, 
and the " Selections of Psalms " were allowed. 

* Memoirs, p. 153. 



78 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



THE COI^YEIS'TION OF 1792. 

Nine States were represented in the Convention 
which met in Trinity Church, New- York, on the 
11th of September, 1792. Five Bishops, with nine- 
teen clerical and fourteen lay deputies, were in at- 
tendance, and the session lasted seven days. On 
Monday, September 17th, the Rev. Thomas John 
Claggett, D.D., was consecrated Bishop of Mary- 
land, the sermon on that interesting occasion, the 
first American Consecration, being delivered by the 
Rev. Dr. William Smith, whose election to the same 
Episcopate the first Convention of 1786 had refus- 
ed to confirm. Bishop Provoost, who, through the 
courtesy of Bishop Seabury, had become Presiding 
Bishop, was the consecrator, assisted by the Bishop 
of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and the Bishops 
of Pennsylvania and Virginia. At this consecra- 
tion, the succession, as transmitted through the Scot- 
tish and English lines, was united, and through tlie 
first Bishop of Maryland, every subsequent Ameri- 
can Bishop can trace his Episcopal lineage to the 
first American prelate. 

The Rev. Dr. William Smith was re-elected presi- 
dent of the House of Deputies, and the Rev. John 
Bisset, secretary. The procedings were opened 
with a sermon by Bishop Seabury. Lay deputies 
from Connecticut and Rhode Island appeared for 



OF THE AMEEICAN CHURCH. 79 

the first time at this session, and the representatives 
of the Church in the last-mentioned State formally 
acceded to the Constitution of the general Church. 
The proposed amendment to the Constitution, giving 
the House of Bishops a negative upon the proceed- 
ings of the House of Deputies was rejected, but 
the proposition was renewed for action at the next 
session. Tlie consideration of the Articles of Ke- 
ligion was postponed. The Ordinal was set forth, 
and several new canons, evidently growing out of 
the exigencies of the time, and relating mainly to 
the discipline of the clergy, were enacted. A joint 
committee was appointed to compare the Book of 
Common Prayer, as published in 1790, with the ori- 
ginal acts of the Convention of 1789, and to pro- 
vide for authentic editions of the book in the fu- 
ture. A joint committee was also appointed " for 
preparing a plan of supporting missionaries to 
preach the gospel on the frontiers of the United 
States." Copies of the Journal were ordered to be 
sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury for the use of 
the English bishops. In the House of Bishops, the 
rule adopted in 1789, providing for the presidency 
according to seniority of consecration, was changed, 
and " rotation, beginning from the North," substi- 
tuted. The Bishop of Yirginia, as we learn from 
Bishop White, — the record being silent as to the 
matter, — offered a proposition tending to a compre- 
hension of the Methodist societies in the Church, a 
subject which had earlier occasioned a correspondence 
between the Hev. Thomas Coke, LL.D., one of the 
" superintendents" of that body in America, and 



80 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

the Bishops of Connecticut and Pennsylvania.* 
This proposition, as agreed to by the House of 
Bishops, was as follows : 

The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of 
America, ever bearing in mind the sacred obligation which at- 
tends all the followers of Christ, to avoid divisions among 
themselves ; and anxious to promote that union for which our 
Lord and Saviour so earnestly prayed ; do hereby declare to 
the Christian world, that, uninfluenced by any other considera- 
tions than those of duty as Christians, and an earnest desire 
for the prosperity of pure Christianity, and the furtherance of 
our holy religion, they are ready and willing to unite and 
form one body with any religious society, which shall be influ- 
enced by the same Catholic spirit. And in order that this 
Christian end may be the more easily effected, they further de- 
clare, that all things in which the great essentials of Christian- 
ity and the characteristic principles of their Church are not 
concerned, they are willing to leave to future discussion ; 
being ready to alter or modify those points which, in the opin- 
ion of the Protestant Episcopal Church, are subject to human 
alteration. And it is hereby recommended to the State conven- 
tions, to adopt such measures or propose such conferences with 
Christians of other denominations, as to themselves may be 
Jhought most prudent ; and report accordingly to the ensuing 
General Convention.! 

This proposition was communicated to the House 
of Deputies, but, although a few gentlemen who 
were cognizant of the correspondence between Dr. 
Coke and Bishop White favored its consideration, 
it was generally regarded as "preposterous," and 
as '' tending to produce distrust of the stability of 



* The original of Dr. Coke's letter to Bishop White is pre- 
served among the papers belonging to the General Convention, 
in the keeping of the author. 

f Bishop White's Memoirs, pp. 167, 168. 



OF THE AMEiUCAN CHURCH. 81 

the system of the Episcopal Church, without the 
least prospect of embracing any other religious 
body." Agreeably to leave granted " as a matter 
of indulgence," the Bishops withdrew the proposi- 
tion, which, however, becomes the earliest recorded 
document bearing upon the questions of Church 
unity and comprehension, which have subsequently 
from time to time agitated the American Church. 

More successful were the measures proposed for 
evangelizing the West. We give in full, as the 
first missionary paper of the Church in its indepen- 
dent organization, — 

An Act of the General Convention, for supporting Missionaries 
to preach the Gospel on the frontiers of the United States. 

1. Resolved, — That it be recommended to the ministers of 
this Church to preach a sermon in each of the churches under 
their care, on the first Sunday of September in every year ; 
and, if that day should not be adapted to the purpose, then on 
such other Sunday as the minister and vestry or trustees of the 
congregation shall appoint, for the purpose of collecting money 
in order to carry into effect this charitable design, 

2. That the money so collected be entered in a record to be 
kept by the vestries or trustees of each congregation ; and by 
the minister and church vrardens or trustees be delivered to a 
treasurer appointed by each State Convention, and by him 
transmitted to a treasurer who shall be appointed as hereinaf- 
ter directed. 

3. That such missionaries as may be employed by this 
Church, be authorized to make collections of money from such 
congregations on the frontiers as may contribute, and render 
an accurate account to the bishop of this Church irj the State 
of Pennsylvania, and the Standing Comrnittee to be appointed 
by this Convention, of the sums thus collected. 

4. That the bishop of this Church in Pennsylvania, and the 
said Standing Committee, frame an address to the members of 
this Church, recommending this cliaritable design to their par- 



82 THE GfiNEKAL CONVENTION 

ticular attention, which address shall be read by every minis- 
ter on the day appointed for the collection. 

5. That the bishop of this Church in Pennsylvania, and the 
said Standing Committee, have authority to appoint a secreta- 
ry and a treasurer, the first to carry on the correspondence, and 
the other to keep the accounts and the moneys of the institu- 
tion. 

6. That when it shall appear to the bishop of this Church in 
Pennsylvania, and the Standing Committee to be appointed as 
aforesaid, that sufficient funds have been provided for the above 
purpose, they shall then employ such missionaries, allow such 
salaries, and make such arrangements, as to them shall seem 
best, reporting regularly their proceedings to each General 
Convention. 

The changes in the " Ordinal" from the English 
Offices were prepared by the Bishops. With refe- 
rence to the nature of these alterations, Bishop 
White informs ns that " There was no material 
difference of opinion, except in regard to the words 
used by the Bishop at the ordination of Priests — 
' Receive ye the Holy Ghost,' and ' Whose sins 
thon dost forgive, they are forgiven, and whose sins 
then dost retain, they are retained.' Bishop Sea- 
bury, who alone was tenacious of this form, consent- 
ed at last, with great reluctance, to allow the alter- 
native of another as it now stands."* 

In postponing the consideration of the XXXIX 
Articles to a future convention, the House of Depu- 
ties were opposed to the House of Bishops. Of the 
Bishops, as Bishop White informs us, " Seabury, 
White, and Claggett were in favor of the adoption 
of Articles of Religion ; Madison was opposed to 
such a co\irse, and Provoost, who, as President, was 

* Memoirs, p. 164. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 83 

not called upon to vote on the question, was under- 
stood to be in sympathy with the Bishop of Yirgi- 
nia. The unwillingness of the Deputies to consider 
the subject, however, -caused its postponement in 
spite of the majority of the Bishops in its favor."* 

Notice of the accession of the clergy and laity of 
the Church of North-Carolina to the general Con- 
stitution was received by letter and placed on file ; 
and a note appended to the Journal informs us that 
a clerical deputy from that State, the Rev. J. L. 
Wilson, detained by contrary winds, did not reach 
New-York until after the Convention had closed its 
session. 

Agreeably to the requirement of a canon adopted 
at the last Convention, a list of the clergy of the 
Church is printed in the Appendix to the Journal. 
Including the Bishops, the number given is one 
hundred and eighty-four, no lists having been hand- 
ed in from New-Hampshire and Massachusetts, and 
there being no mention of the number of clergy- 
men at that time in North-Carolina and on the wes- 
tern frontiers. With every allowance there could 
not have been more than two hundred, — the repre- 
sentatives of nearly two thousand who, with Eng- 
lish orders, had labored on the American continent 
since its earliest attempted settlement two hundred 
and fifty years before. 



* Memoirs, pp. 166, 167. 



84 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



THE CONYENTIOISr OF 1795. 

'No clerical or lay deputies from New-England 
were in attendance upon the Convention of 1795, j 
which met in Christ Church, Philadelphia, on the 
8th of September, and continued in session for ten 
days. Intercourse between l^ew-York and Phila- 
delphia had been suspended by public authority, 
some time before the meeting of the Convention, 
in consequence of the prevailing epidemic, and but 
seven States were represented by sixteen clergymen 
and eight laymen. The Kev. Dr. William Smith, 
D.D., of Pennsylvania, was elected President of 
the House of Deputies, and the Eev. James Aber- 
crombie, Secretary. The Bishop of ISTew-York 
preached the opening sermon. Testimonials in fa- 
vor of the consecration of the Eev. Samuel Peters, 
LL.D., to the Episcopate of Yermont were present- 
ed, but the request of the Convention of that State 
was refused, as Yermont had not acceded to the 
Constitution of the Church. Had not this sufficient 
reason existed, others would doubtless have hinder- 
ed the success of such an application. Besides 
" some personal circumstances, which prevented the 
paying of much respect to the solicitation,"* the 
fact that there was but one clergyman in the State, 
and he but temporarily, was sufficient objection, and 
the sole result of the request was the enactment of 

* Bishop White's Memoirs, p. 174. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 85 

a canon providing that the Church in a State shall 
not be entitled to a resident Bishop unless there 
shall be at least six presbyters residing and officiat- 
ing therein. Another canon, growing out of an ex- 
isting abuse, was enacted, forbidding the union of 
a congregation in one diocese with the Church in 
any other diocese. 

At this Convention South-Carolina, which at the 
first had entered into the general union of the 
Churches on condition that no Bishop should be 
imposed upon the State, applied for the consecra- 
tion of the Eev. Kobert Smith, D.D., to the Epis- 
copate. There was reason to fear that this request 
grew out of a desire and, in fact, a plan for seced- 
ing from the general Church when once the 
power of conferring orders had been secured in the 
consecration of its Bishop. At least this purpose 
was expressly avowed in a circular letter addressed 
to the members of the Church in South-Carolina, 
by " a select Committee of the United Episcopal 
Churches in this State." This circular, which 
appears to have been the composition of Henry 
Purcell, D.D., assigned as the ground of this proba- 
ble " secession of this State and Virginia from the 
General Association," the " absolute negative" 
which it was feared would, at the solicitation of the 
Eastern States, be given to the House of Bishops. 
But it was found on inquiry that the Convention 
had not adopted the principles of this " wretched 
production," and the consecration of the Bishop* 
elect of South-Carolina tool? place on Sunday, the 
13th of September. 



86 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

But Dr. Purcell, in addition to his connection 
with the discreditable circular already referred to, 
had published a " licentious pamphlet " full of 
'' personal abuse," " principally levelled at Bishop 
Seabury" on the ground of " his supposed author- 
ship of a printed defense of the Episcopal nega- 
tive." This paper was in fact written and ac- 
knowledged by another divine ; and on Dr. Pur- 
cell's presentation of the testimonials of Dr. Robert 
Smith, as we leam from the Journal — 

The attention cf Ihs house was called by the Rev. Dr. 
Andrews to the consideration of a pamphlet lately published, 
entitled, " Strictures on the Love of Power in the Prelacy, by 
a Member of the Protestant Episcopal Association in the 
State of South Carolina," which he declared to be a virulent 
attack upon the doctrines and discipline of our Church, and a 
libel against the House of Bishops, and which was alleged to 
be written by a member of this house. 

Resolved, — That it be the order of the day for Monday next, 
that the house, in Committee of the whole, enter upon the 
investigation of this charge. 

After debate, the House resolved that the pam- 
phlet contained "very offensive and censurable 
matter," and it was only on the presentation of a 
written apology in which he professed " sorrow for 
the publication," and at the earnest solicitation of 
the Bishops, that Dr. Purcell escaped expulsion from 
the House. His subsequent conduct gave ample 
evidence that his " professed penitence was insin- 
cere, although it had been accompanied by a profu- 
sion of tears."* The exposure of his conduct had 



Bishop White, Memoirs, pp. 175, 17& 



OF THE AxMERIGAN CHURCH. 87 

been mainly due to the Rev. Dr. Andrews, of Phi- 
ladelpliia, and on the rising of the Convention the 
pugnacious Purcell, clergyman though he was, 
challenged Dr. Andrews to mortal combat, and was 
consequently bound over before the civil courts to 
keep the peace. The depositions and documents 
concerning this shameful affair are preserved among 
the papers of Bishop White, and that amiable pre- 
late seems to have been roused to an unusual indig- 
nation towards the offender, who was shielded from 
the punishment he richly merited by the friendship 
of his Bishop and the support of his brethren at 
the South. 

One decision in connection wdth this unhappy 
aifair requires notice as establishing an important 
precedent. To quote the words of Bishop "White, 
" The termination of this business, although pressed 
by the Bishops, was not acquiesced in without con- 
siderable opposition ; and, to the last, three very 
respectable lay gentlemen, who were of a remark- 
ably conciliatory character, pressed for permission 
to enter their protest. It was not granted ; and as 
this has been the only instance in which the ques- 
tion of a right to protest has undergone discussion, 
the recording of a denial of the right falls in with 
the design of the present work."* 

The Church in Xorth-Carolina had elected to the 
Episcop^e a most worthy clergyman, the Bev. 
Charles Pettigrew,- and the testimonials of this 
gentleman were laid before the Convention ; but 

* Memoirs, p. 175. 



88 THE GENERAL CONVENTIOK 

owing to the interruption of travel occasioned bj a 
prevailing epidemic, the Rev. Mr. Pettigrew found 
himself unable to reach Philadelphia in time for 
the Convention, and returned to his home without 
accomplishing the end desired. 

The Bishops expressed their content with the 
legislation given by Art. III. of the Consiitution 
without the " absolute negative." A canon em- 
powering the Bishops respectively to " compose a 
form of prayer or thanksgiving for extraordinary 
occasions" was adopted ; and legislation respecting 
the preparatory exercises of candidates for the min- 
istry ; and with reference to parochial boundaries was 
enacted. The third, fourth, sixth and seventh canons 
of 1789, and the fourth and sixth canons of 1792 
were repealed, and in the stead of each new canons 
were adopted. The churches in the several States 
were called upon to send deputies to the next Con- 
vention without fail, that further postponement of 
the consideration of the Articles might be avoided. 
The care of the missionary work was relegated to 
the State Conventions ; and a joint committee was 
appointed to prepare a course of study for candi- 
dates for Holy Orders. The clergy list appended 
to the Journal had increased to upwards of two 
hundred names. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 89 



THE C0NYE:N'TI0N^ of 1799. 

The prevalence of epidemic disease prevented 
the Convention from assembling in Philadelphia 
in September, 1798. The Bishops, agreeably 
to a power invested in them when request- 
ed by the Standing Committee, convened a Spe- 
cial Convention, in place of the triennial meet- 
ing, on the 11th of June of the following year. 
Eight States, Massachusetts, Ehode Island, Con- 
necticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Delaw^are, and Yirginia, were rej)resented by nine- 
teen clerical and ten lay deputies. The officers of 
the last session were re-elected in the House of 
Deputies. There was no opening sermon. Since 
the last Convention Bishop Seabury had entered 
into rest, and the Pev. Abraham Jarvis, D.D., had 
been consecrated in his stead. The Pev. Dr. Ed- 
ward Bass had been a second time elected to the 
Episcopate of Massachusetts, and had received con- 
secration. At this session, which continued for 
eight days, the testimonials of the Pev. Uzal 
Ogden, D.D., who had been elected to the Episco- 
pate of New-Jersey, were presented for confirma- 
tion. The question being raised " whether all the 
priests who voted in the election were so qualified 
as to constitute them a majority of the resident and 
officiating priests in the said State according to the 
meaning of the canon," this objection was made 
the ostensible ground for suspending action. Bishop 
White reveals " a more important reason at the 



90 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

bottom of the objection made."* Dr. Ogden ^' was 
considered by his brethren generally as being more 
attached to the doctrines and the practices obtain- 
ing in some other churches than to those of his 
own."f 

A proposed alteration in the Constitution, to the 
effect that when the Church was not represented 
in both Orders by a majority of the States, 
the votes should be given by States without re- 
gard to Orders, was defeated. A proposition to 
substitute a quinquennial meeting of the Conven- 
tion for a triennial, involving of course a change 
in Article I. of the Constitution, was laid over 
for consideration at the next session. Canons, of 
the mode of calling special meetings ; of General 
Conventions ; of consecrations during the recess of 
General Convention ; explanatory of the term 
" regularly officiating and resident minister ;" and 
repealing in part Canon 4 of 1795 concerning the 
learning of those to be ordained, were enacted. A 
Form of Consecration of a church or chapel was 
adopted ; a prayer was set forth to be used at 
meetings of the Convention ; and the following 
action was taken respecting the Articles of Reli- 
gion by the House of Dejputies^ and printed as an 
Appendix to the Journal of that House : 

Resolved unanimously, — Tliat on account of tlie advanced 
period of tlie present Session, and the tliinness of the Conven- 
tion, the consideration of the Articles, now reported and read, 
be postponed ; and that the Secretary transcribe the Articles 

* Memoirs, p. 178. f Ibid. 



or THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 



91 



into the Journal of tins Convention, to lie over for the consi- 
deration of the next General Convention. 

The Articles referred to are as follow. 

I. Op Faith in the Holy Trinity. 

There is but one living and true God, everlasting ; of infinite 
power, wisdom, and goodness ; the maker and preserver of all 
things, visible and invisible. And in the unity of this God- 
head there are three persons — the Father, the Son, and the 
H0I7 Ghost ; our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, 

II. Of the Holy Scripture. 

Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation ; 
BO that whatsoever is not read therein, and can not be proved 
thereby, is not to be received as an article of faith, nor deemed 
necessary to salvation. 

By Holy Scripture, we understand the canonical books of 
the Old and New Testament. 

THE NAMES AND NUMBER OP THE CANONICAL BOOKS 
IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, 



1. Genesis having 50 


21. Ecclesiastes 


hav 


mgl2 


2. Exodus " 


40 


22. The Song of Solomon 


' 8 


3. Leviticus " 


27 


23. Isaiah 




" 66 


4, Numbers " 


36 


24. Jeremiah 




' 52 


5. Deuteronomy " 


34 


25. Lamentations 




* 5 


6. Joshua 


24 


26. Ezekiel 




* 48 


7. Judges •' 


21 


27. Daniel 




' 12 


8. Ruth 


4 


28. Hosea 




" 14 


9. The Ist Book of Samuel ' * 


31 


29. Joel 




" 3 


10. The 2d Book of Samuel " 


24 


30. Amos 




' 9 


11. The Ist Book of Kings " 


22 


31. Obadiah 




" 1 


12. The 2d Book of Kings " 


25 


32. Jonah 




' 4 


13. The Ist Book of Chronicles 


29 


33. Micah 




7 


14. Second Book of Chronicles 


36 


34, Nahum 




3 


15. Ezra 


10 


35. Habakkuk 




" 3 


16. Nehemiah 


13 


36. Zephaniah 




" 3 


17. The Book of Esther 


10 


37. Haggai 




" 2 


18. The Book of Job 


42 


38. Zechariah 




" 14 


19. The Psalms 


150 


39. Malachi 




" 4 


20. The Proverbs " 


31 









92 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



CANONICAL BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

CHAPS, CHAPS. 

1. St. Matthew having 28 15.1st Epistle to Timothy havmg 6 



2. St. Mark 

3. St. Luke 

4. St. John 

5. The Acts of the Apostles 

6. Epistle to the Romans 



16 16. 2d Epistle to Timothy " 4 

24 IT. Epistle to Titus " 3 

21 18. Epistle to Philemon " 1 

28 19. Epistle to the Hebrews " 13 

16 20. Epistle of St. James *' 5 



7. 1st Epistle to the Corinthians 16 21, 1st Epistle of St. Peter " 5 

8. 2d Epistle to the Corinthians 13 22, 2d Epistle of St. Peter " 3 

9. Epistle to the Galatians " 5 23. Ist Epistle of St. John " 5 

10. Epistle to the Ephesians " 6 24. 2d Epistle of St. John " 1 

11. Epistle to the Philipians " 4 25. 3d Epistle of St. John " 1 

12. Epistle to the Colossians " 4 26. Epistle of St. Jude " 1 

13. 1st Epistle to the Thessalonians 5 27. Revelation of St. John, the 

14. 2d Epistle to the Thessalonians 3 Divine " 22 

The Apocryphal books are read by the Church, for example 
of life and instruction of manners, not for the establishment 
of discipline or doctrine. 

III. Of the Old and New Testament. 

There is a perfect harmony and accordance between the Old 
and New Testament ; for in both, " Pardon of sin and everlast- 
ing life are offered to mankind through Christ, who is the only 
mediator between God and man ;" and although Christians are 
not bound to obey the civil and ceremonial precepts, yet are 
they obliged to observe all the moral commandments of the 
Mosaic dispensation. 

IV. Of the Creeds. 

The Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed ought to be re- 
tained and believed, because every Article contained in them 
may be proved by Holy Scripture. 

V. Of the Transgression of our first Parents. 

By the transgression of our first parents, they lost that pri- 
mitive innocence and perfect holiness in which God had created 
them ; and thus the nature of man became corrupted, and 
prone to evil, so that there is no man living who sinneth not. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 03 

VI. Op Justification. 

We are justified, or pardoned, by God, not on account of our 
own good works, but only through the merits and mediation 
of our blessed Redeemer and Advocate, Jesus Christ. But 
although good works cannot put away our sins, nor appear 
perfect before God, yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God 
in Christ, and essentially necessary to salvation — for Scripture 
assures us, that " faith without works is dead," and that with- 
out" holiness no man shall see the Lord. 

VII. Of Predestination and Election. 
Being well assured, from Holy Scripture, of the eternal pur- 
pose or promise of Redemption, according to which God sent 
his Son to be the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, 
and Christ Jesus gave himself a ransom for all ; we receive the 
doctrine of predestination as consistent with, and agreeable to, 
this most gracious and general scheme of salvation, which we 
believe to be universal in the intention, however partial the 
wickedness of mankind may render it in the application. 
Under the impression of this belief, it is the duty of Christians 
to be satisfied with and attend to the promises of God, as they 
are generally set forth to us in Holy Scripture, without seeking 
to be " wise above what is written," or plunging into the unre- 
vealed secrets of either past or future eternity, but always re- 
membering the distinction which in such cases Moses lays 
down — " Secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but the 
things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children 
for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." 

VIII, Of Salvation by Christ alone. 
Holy Scripture declares, that "there is none other name 
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, 
but only the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." But we are not 
authorized to assert, that men shall not be saved by the name of 
Jesus Christ, to whom his gospel has not been promulgated. 
We leave them to the uncovenanted mercies of God. 

IX. Of the Church. 
The visible Church of Christ is the whole multitude of be- 
lievers, of whatsoever nation or language, dwelling on the face 



94 THE GEXEEAL CONVENTION 

of the earth, among whom the pure word of God is preached, 
the Sacraments duly administered, and the order of the priest- 
hood observed, according to Christ's ordinance and appoint- 
ment. 

X. Of the Authority op the Church. 

The Church has power to ordain, change, and abolish rites 
and ceremonies, and to determine controversies of faith ; but 
it is not lawful for the Church to ordain or command any thing 
to be received or believed which is contrary to the Canon of 
Scripture, or to expound one part of the same so as to be re- 
pugnant to another. The Church, also, is the witness or keep- 
er of Holy Writ, and must neither adulterate, nor add to, nor 
take from the same. 

XI. Of Ministering in the Church. 

It is not lawful for any man to take upon him the office of 
public preaching, or administering the Holy Sacraments, until 
he be regularly ordained, and sent to execute the same. And 
those we judge lawfully sent, who are ordained by the Bishops 
of the Church. 

XII. Op the Sacraments. 

Sacraments were ordained by Christ, not only to be badges 
or tokens of Christian profession, but to be outward and visi- 
ble signs of inward and spiritual grace, by which He doth 
work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but doth also 
strengthen and confirm our faith in Him. 

XIII. Of Baptism. 

Baptism is an ordinance by which we are regenerated and 
bom again of water and the Holy Ghost, received into Christ's 
Church, and made living members of the same. 

XIV. Op the Lord's Supper. 

The Supper of the Lord is not only a token of the love thai 
Christians ought to have towards one another, but rather a 
pledge of our redemption by Clirist's death. To such as 
worthily receive the same, the bread which is broken is a 
partaking of the body of Christ, and the cup of blessing is a 



OF THE AMEKICAN CHUKCH. 95 

partaking of the blood of Christ ; both which are spiritually 
received, for the preservation of our souls and bodies unto 
everlasting life. 

XV. Op the Oblation op Christ. 
The oblation of the body of Christ, once made, is that per- 
fect sacrifice, propitiation, and satisfaction, which was offered 
for the sins of the whole world. And there is no other sacri- 
fice, satisfaction, or atonement for sin, but that only. 

XVI. Op Excommunicated Persons. 
Whosoever is publicly excommunicated by the governors of 
the Church, and cut off from the unity of the same, is to be 
considered as an alien from the promises of the Gospel, until 
he be openly reconciled, and received again into communion. 

XVII. Op the Power op the Civil Magistrate. 
The power of the civil magistrate extendeth to all men, as 
well Clergy as Laity, in all things temporal — but hath no 
authority in things purely spiritual. And we hold it to be the 
duty of aU men who are professors of the Gospel, to pay a 
respectful obedience to the civil authority, regularly and legi- 
timately constituted. 

The clergy list appended to the Journal of 1799 
contained the names of seven Bishops and two 
hundred and twelve clergymen. 



96 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



THE COJSTYEI^TION OF 1801. 

Seven States — Massachusetts, Connecticut, JS^ew- 
York, I^ew-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and 
Maryland — were represented in the Convention 
which met in St. Michael's Church, city of Tren- 
ton, New-Jersey, from the 8th to the 12th of 
September, 1801. Nineteen clerical and nine lay 
deputies were in attendance at this brief session, 
and the Rev. Abraham Beach, D.D., of New- York, 
was chosen President, and the Pev. Ashbel Bald- 
win, of Connecticut, Secretary, of the House of 
Deputies, and Chaplain to the Convention. The 
application of the Diocese of New- Jersey for the 
consecration of the Pev. Dr. Ogden was met by 
'' a direct refusal to recommend " on a vote by 
dioceses and orders.* The proposed change from 
a triennial to a quinquennial Convention was de- 
feated, and a further proposed alteration of Art. I., 
making the third Tuesday of May as the time of 
meeting, laid over for action in 1804. 

The Convention was no sooner organized than a 
call was made upon the House of Bishops by the 
House of Deputies to know if any communication 
had been received from the Bishop of New- York, 
resigning his jurisdiction. This call elicited the 



* The defeated Bishop-elect a few years afterwards joined 
the Presbyterian body. 



OF THE AMERICAN CIIUKCH. 97 

following letter, wliicli, as the first Episcopal resig- 
nation in the American Chnrch, we append, together 
with the " minute" of the House of Bishops with 
reference to the question : 

New-York, Sept. 7, 1801. 
Right Rev. and Dear Sir : 

I think it my duty to request that, as President of the House 
of Bishops, you will inform that venerable body, that, induced 
by ill health, and some melancholy occurrences in my family, 
and an ardent wish to retire from all public employment, I re- 
signed, at the last meeting of our Church Convention, my 
jurisdiction as Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
the State of New- York. 

I am, with great regard, dear and right rev. sir. 
Your affectionate brother, 

Samuel Provoost. 

Right Rev. Bishop White. 

The House of Bishops having considered the subject brought 
before them by the letter of Bishop Provoost, and by the mes- 
sage from the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, touching 
the same, can see no grounds on which to believe, that the 
contemplated resignation is consistent with ecclesiastical order, 
or with the practice of Episcopal churches in any ages, or with 
the tenor of the OflBce of Consecration. Accordingly, while 
they sympathize most tenderly with their brother Bishop Pro- 
voost, on account of that ill health, and those melancholy oc- 
currences which have led to the design in question, they judge 
it to be inconsistent with the sacred trust committed to them, 
to recognize the Bishop's act as an effectual resignation of his 
Episcopal jurisdiction. Nevertheless, being sensible of the 
present exigencies of the church of New- York, and approving 
of their making provision for the actual discharge of the duties 
of the Episcopacy, the Bishops of this house are ready to con- 
secrate to the Office of a Bishop, any person who may be pre- 
sented to them with the requisite testimonials from the Gene- 
ral and State Conventions, and of whose religious, moral, and 
literary character, due satisfaction may be given. But this 
house must be understood to be explicit in their declaration, 



98 THE GENERAL CONVENTION" 

that tliey shall consider such a person as assistant or coadjutor 
Bishop during Bishop Provoost's life, although competent, in 
point of character, to all the Episcopal duties ; the extent in 
which the same shall be discharged by him, to be dependent 
on such regulations as expediency may dictate to the Church 
in New- York, grounded on the indisposition of Bishop Pro- 
voost, and with his concurrence. 

The publication by the House of Deputies in 
1799, of the draft of seventeen Articles of Religion 
reported by a committee of that House, is styled by 
Bishop White as "an injudicious measure." It 
was so from the fact that it rendered this draft lia- 
ble "to be easily mistaken for the sense of at least 
one of the Houses of the Convention."* Still, as 
the Bishop proceeds to state, " it proved beneficial 
in its unexpected consequences," by showing the 
impossibility of agreement on any new draft of the 
Articles, and thus preparing a way for the formal 
acceptance of those of the Mother Church of Eng- 
land. Bishop "White is careful to state, in ac- 
cordance with the principles which governed his 
course with reference to the many " vexed ques- 
tions" arising at the period of reorganizing the 
American Church, that, with the exception of the 
political portions, the XXXIX Articles were all 
along " the acknowledged faith of the Church."f 
Though " the opposite doctrine was held by many," 
it " threatened unhappy consequences," and the only 
precedent was " the very exceptionable manner of 
doing business, adopted by the House of Clerical 

* Memoirs, pp. 176-178, 179-187. f Ibid., p. 180. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 99 

and Lay Deputies in the year 1789. That House, 
in regard to every part of the Prayer Book on 
which they acted, brought the office forward as a 
matter originating with them, and not their altera- 
tions, as affecting an office already known and of 
obligation. It was answered that this was an as- 
sumption of but one of the Houses of a single Con- 
vention ; that the other House had even then 
adopted a contrary course ; that the same had been 
done in all the preceding Conventions, and that in 
the only subsequent Convention in which there had 
been any alteration of a former standard — ^meaning 
of the Ordinal, altered in 1792 — it had been so 
acted on, as to acknowledge the obligation of the 
old forms, with the exception of the political parts, 
until altered. This seems conclusive reasoning."* 
The Articles, to quote Bishop White, " were there- 
fore adopted by the two Houses of Convention, 
without their altering of even the obsolete diction 
in them ; but with notices of such changes as 
change of situation had rendered necessary.''^ The 
action setting forth the Articles is as follows : 

Resolution of tlie Bisbops, tlie Clergy, and Laity of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church in the United .States of America, 
in Convention, in the city of Trenton, the 12th day of Septem- 
ber, in the year of our Lord 1801, respecting Articles of Re- 
ligion. 

The Articles of Religion are hereby ordered to be set forth 
with the following directions, to be observed in all future 
editions of the same ; that is to say — 

The following to be the title, viz. : 

* Memoirs. f Bishop White, Memoirs, p. 32. 



100 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

" Articles of Religion, as establislied by the Bishops, the 
Clergy, and the Laity of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
the United States of America, in Convention, on the 12th day 
of September, in the year of our Lord 1801," 

The Articles to stand as in the Book of Common Prayer of 
the Church of England, with the following alterations and 
omissions, viz. : 

In the 8th Article, the word "three" in the title, and the 
words " three — Athanasius' creed " in the Article, to be omit- 
ted, and the Article to read thus : 

Art. VIII. Of the Creeds. 

" The Nicene Creed, and that which is commonly called the 
Apostles' Creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed, 
for they may be proved by most certain warrants of Holy 
Scripture." 

Under the title " Article 31," the following note to be in- 
serted, namely, 

"The 31st of the former Aticles is omitted, because it is 
partly of a local and civil nature, and is provided for, as to the 
remaining parts of it, in other Articles." 

The 35th Article to be inserted with the following note, 
namely, 

** This Article is received in this Church, so far as it declares 
the Books of Homilies to be an explication of Christian doc- 
trine, and instructive in piety and morals. But all references 
to the constitution and laws of England are considered as in- 
applicable to the circumstances of this Church ; Avhich also 
suspends the order for the reading of said homilies in churches 
until a revision of them may conveniently be made, for the 
clearing of them, as well from obsolete words and phrases, as 
from the local references." 

The 36th Article, entitled " Of Consecration of Bishops and 
Ministers," to read thus : 

' ' The Book of Consecration of Bishops, and ordering of 
Priests and Deacons, as set forth by the General Convention 
of this Church in 1793, doth contain all things necessary to 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUECH. 101 

Bucli consecration and ordering : neither liatli it any thing, 
that, of itself, is superstitious and ungodly : and, therefore, 
whosoever are consecrated or ordered according to said form, 
we decree all such to be rightly, orderly, and lawfully conse- 
crated and ordered. " 

The 37th Article to be omitted, and the following substituted 
in its place : 

"Of the Powek of the Civil Magistrate. 

" The power of the civil magistrate extendeth to all men, as 
well Clergy as Laity, in all things temporal — but hath no 
authority in things purely spiritual. And we hold it to be the 
duty of all men who are professors of the gospel, to pay 
respectful obedience to the civil authority, regularly and legiti- 
mately constituted." 

Adopted by the House of Bishops. 
WILLIAM WHITE, D.D., Presiding Bishop. 
Adopted hy the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies. 
ABRAHAM BEACH, D.D., President. 

As there has been more or less discussion witli 
reference to the nature of this action, it may be 
well to add to our quotations from Bishop White's 
opinions, the following important paragraph which 
bears directly on this matter : 

The object kept in view, in all the consultations held, and 
the determinations formed, was the perpetuating of the Episco- 
pal Church, on the ground of the general principles which she 
had inherited from the Church of England ; and of not depart- 
ing from them, except so far as either local circumstances 
required, or some very important cause rendered proper. To 
those acquainted with the system of the Church of England, 
it must be evident that the object here stated was accomplish- 
ed on the ratification of the Articles.* 

* Memoirs, p. 33. 



102 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

It should further be noted in this connection that 
it appears from the Journal of the Convention of 
1804, that 

A proposed Canon, concerning subscription to the Articles 
of tlie Church, was negatived, under the impression that a 
sufficient subscription to the Articles is already required by the 
Ttli Article of the Constitution.* 

Permission was granted to certain churches in 
the western part of the State of New-Hampshire, 
and the eastern part of the State of Vermont, 
which had acceded to the General Constitution, to 
form a diocesan organization under a dispensation 
from the operation of the eighth Canon of 1795. 
Canons were adopted providing for the degradation 
of those who discontinued the ministerial office 
without lawful cause ; limiting the operation of 
Canon 4 of 1795, providing for the dispensation 
of branches of learning not strictly ecclesiastical ; 
prescribing the mode of publishing autliorized 
editions of the Book of Common Prayer ; and add- 
ing to Canon 1 of 1795, respecting Episcopal visita- 
tions. *A proposal emanating from the celebrated 
Isaac Wilkins, D.D., of New- York, that lay deputies 
to the General Convention should be communicants 
of at least one year's standing, was defeated by the 
following vote : 

Clergy— Massachusetts, No ; Connecticut, Yea ; New- York, 



* Perry's Reprint of Journals of General Conventions. 1785- 
1835, I., p. 301. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 103 

Yea ; New-Jersey, No ; Pennsylvania, No ; Delaware, No ; 
Maryland, No. 

Laity — Connecticut, No ; New- York, Yea ; Delaware, No ; 
Maryland, No. 

Eight Bisliops, and two hundred and three Pres- 
byters and Deacons, are reported in the clergy 
list. 



104 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



THE CONVENTION OF 1804. 

Four Bishops, to whom one, Parker, of Massa- 
chusetts, was added by consecration, and twenty 
clerical and nine lay deputies from the seven 
States represented at the preceding session, made 
up the Convention of 1804, which met in Trinity 
Church, New- York, on the eleventh, and adjourned 
on the eighteenth of September. Bishop White 
presided in the House of Bishops. The Kev. Dr. 
Beach was re-elected President of the House of 
Deputies, and the Pev. John Henry Hobart, 
Secretary. The Pight Pev. Benjamin Moore, 
D.D., preached the opening sermon. The Con- 
vention ratified the proposed alteration in the 
Constitution, changing the time of the meet- 
ing of the Convention. This change w^as occa- 
sioned in consequence of the prevalence of 
epidemic disease in the autunm for several suc- 
cessive years. Eleven canons were adopted, the first 
concerning the election, and requiring the induction 
of ministers ; the others, respecting the dissolution 
of pastoral connection ;* concerning the removal of 
clergymen ; respecting differences between minis- 



* The Candii grew out of a Memorial presented to tlie Con- 
vention by Trinity Church, Newark, N. J., and had for its 
occasion an unhappy dispute between tliat parish and its rec- 
tor, tho Rev. Uzal Ogdeu, D.D. Vide Bishop White's Me- 
moirs, pp. 190, 191. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 105 

ters and their congregations ; respecting clergymen 
ordained by foreign Bishops ; limiting the opera- 
tion of Canon 6 of 1795, respecting the testi- 
monials of ministers of other religions bodies; 
additional to the said Canon requiring candidates to 
apply to their own diocesan for orders ; of candi- 
dates for orders from portions of the United States 
which had not acceded to the Constitution of the 
Church ; of candidates who are refused orders ; 
respecting lay readers ; and providing for an accu- 
rate view of the state of the Church. The " Office 
of Induction," the use of which was required by 
Canon 1 of this Convention, w^as set forth. This 
"Office" was closely copied from "An Office of 
Induction, adopted by the Bishop and Clergy of 
the Diocese of Connecticut, in Convocation, at 
Derby, Noveml)er 20th, 1799, by the Eev. William 
Smith, D.D., Eector of St. Baul's Church, IS'or- 
walk." It w^as at the request of the Connecticut 
Convention which met at Stratfield, June, 1799, 
that Dr. Smith, a nephew of the celebrated divine 
of the same name, to whom we have had occasion 
to refer again and again, prepared this " Office," 
which was formally accepted by the Convention, 
at Litchfield, in 1804. So nearly alike is the Con- 
necticut original and the office set forth by the 
General Convention of 1804, " as to give to Cq^^ 
necticut the whole credit of providing for the 
Church a service which, however priutiji it inay be 
neglected in these days, was intended tq impress 
upon the pastor and his people their intimate, 
mutual, and solemn relations to each other."* 

* Beardsley'a History of the Connecticut Church, II., p. 19. 



106 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

A " Course of Ecclesiastical Studies," which is 
still (1874) appended to the Convention Journal, 
was established by the House of Bishops, in pur- 
suance of a request made by the preceding Con- 
vention. 

The case of the notorious Ammi Rogers came 
before the House of Bishops at this Convention, 
with the following " determination : " 

After full inquiry, and fair examination of all the evidence 
tliat could be procured, it appears to this house, that the said 
Ammi Rogers had produced to the Standing Committee of New- 
York (upon the strength of which he obtained Holy Orders) a 
certificate, signed with the name of the Rev. Philo Perry, 
which certificate was not written nor signed by him. 

That the conduct of the said Ammi Rogers, in the State of 
Connecticut, during his residence in that State, since he left 
New-York, has been insulting, refractory, and schismatical in 
the highest degree ; and were it tolerated, would prove sub- 
versive of all order and discipline in the Church ; and that the 
statement which he made in justification of his conduct, was a 
mere tissue of equivocation and evasion, and of course served 
rather to defeat than to establish his purpose. 

Therefore, this house do approve of the proceedings of the 
Church in Connecticut, in reproving the said Ammi Rogers, 
and prohibiting him from the performance of any ministerial 
duties within that diocese ; and, moreover, are of opinion, 
that he deserves a severe ecclesiastical censure, that of degra- 
dation from the ministry. 

In regard to the question. To what authority is Mr. Rogers 
amenable ? this house are sensible, that there not having been, 
previously to the present Convention, any sufficient provision 
for a case of a clergyman removing from one diocese to 
another, it might easily happen tliat different sentiments 
would arise as to this point. We are of opinion, that Mr. 
Rogers' residence being in Connecticut, it is to the authority 
of that diocese he is exclusively amenable. But as the impo- 
sition practiced with a view to the Ministry was in New- York, 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 107 

we recommend to the Bishop and Standing Committee of that 
State, to send to the Bishop in Connecticut such documents, 
duly attested, of the measure referred to, as will be a ground 
of procedure in that particular.* 

Provision was made for the publication of 
authorized and standard copies of the Constitution 
and Canons, and the Office of Induction. At the 
suggestion of the House of Bishops, the adjourn- 
ment of the Convention was accompanied by prayer 
in the presence of the two Houses, the presiding 
Bishop officiating. Two hundred and thirteen 
names, including seven Bishops, appear on the 
clergy list, the returns for Virginia and South- 
Carolina being the same as in previous years. 

* For a review of this action on the part of the House of 
Bishops, sitting on this question practically as a Court of Ap- 
peal, vide Bishop White's Memoirs, pp. 188-190. 



108 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



THE CONYENTIO:^ OF 1808. 

The States of Ehode Island, Connecticut, !N'ew- 
York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and 
Maryland were represented by fourteen clerical 
and thirteen lay deputies, in the Convention of 
1808, which met at Baltimore, Md., and continued 
in session from the 17th to the 26tli of May, inclu- 
sive. Two Bishops only, "White and Claggett, 
were present. In the House of Deputies, the 
officers of the last session were re-elected. The 
long proposed amendment to the Constitution giv- 
ing an absolute negative to the House of Bishops, 
was adopted by a vote practically unanimous, the 
lay deputies of Pennsylvania alone opposing, and 
that in consequence of a supposed failure to comply 
with the constitutional requirement of communi- 
cating the proposed change to the diocesan Conven- 
tion.* The case of Ammi Kogers came before the 
Convention on an appeal from this person " from 
a sentence of degradation said to have been passed 
on him, without trial or hearing, by the Eight Pev. 
Bishop Jarvis, of Connecticut." As we learn from 
Bishop White, " there was no doubt on the minds 
of the two Bishops present, that there had been an 



* Bishop White's Memoirs, p. 198. Compare Perry's Reprint 
of the Journals, I. , p. 341. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 109 

oversight in not granting to this man a trial, in the 
Church in that State. But the oversight, if they 
were correct in supposing one, was not theirs ; nor 
was it in their power to correct it." * The action 
taken by the House of Bishops is given below ; the 
House of Deputies " properly refused to intermed- 
dle." 

This house having considered the contents of the aforesaid 
papers, are of opinion that, agreeably to the Constitution of 
this Church, they have no authority to act on an appeal in regard 
to the matter stated; and there is no existing mode by which 
any Bishop or Bishops of this Church can take cognizance of 
the conduct of any other Bishop, unless at the desire of the 
Convention of the diocese to which such a Bishop should 
belong, and conformably to the rules of process by them estab- 
lished. 

And whereas this house acted on the concerns of the said 
Ammi Rogers, in the session of 1804, as appears by the 
Minutes, they now wish it to be known that their proceedings 
at that time originated in his own petition, relative to the fol- 
lowing points : 

1st. Whether he belonged to the diocese of Connecticut, or 
to that of New-York. 

2dly. The recalling, which he proposed, of a circular letter 
written by Bishop Jarvis, forbidding the petitioner to perform 
divine service in the diocese, and the Clergy and Laity of the 
same to countenance him as a Minister. 

3dly. A candid and impartial inquiry into his conduct and 
character. 

On the first of the said points, the house then assembled, 
being assured that both the parties were disposed to submit to 
their determination, declared it to be, that Ammi Rogers was 
a Clergyman, not of New- York, but of Connecticut. 

The second point being a matter of internal concern of the 

* Bishop White's Memoirs, p. 199. 



110 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Church in Connecticut, was not acted on judicially by this 
house; although, as their opinion was expected on both sides, 
they expressed it as it was, approbatory of the measure. 

On the third point, they were of the opinion that Ammi 
Rogers, far from having been treated with injustice, had not 
received a sentence suflficiently severe. 

To the opinions thus given, no addition or alteration is in- 
tended by this house; and they finally dismiss the subject from 

their consideration. 

♦ 

In response to a memorial from the Diocese of 
Maryland asking the enactment of the English 
Canon concerning marriages, which was referred to 
the House of Bishops by the House of Deputies, 
the following message was communicated : 

The House of Bishops having taken into consideration the 
message sent to them by the House of Clerical and Lay De- 
puties, relative to the subject of marriage, as connected with 
the table of degrees within which, according to the Canons of 
the Church of England, marriage can not be celebrated, ob- 
serve as follows : 

Agreeably to the sentiment entertained by them, in relation 
to the whole Ecclesiastical system, they consider that table as 
now obligatory on this Church, and as what will remain so ; 
unless there should hereafter appear cause to alter it, without 
departing from the Word of God, or endangering the peace 
and good order of this Church. They are, however, aware, 
that reasons exist for making an express determination as to 
the light in which this subject is to be considered. They 
conceive so highly of the importance of it, and it is connected 
with so many questions, both sacred and civil, that they doubt 
the propriety of entering on it, without maturer consideration 
than any expected length of the present Session will permit ; 
and this opinion derives additional weight, both from there 
being but few of their house present, and from there being 
several of the churches not represented in this Convention. 

It was 

Resolved, — That it be made known to the several State Con- 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. Hi 

ventions of ttis Church, that it is proposed to consider of, and 
determine on, at the next General Convention, the propriety 
of the following addition to the 8th article of the Constitution 
of the Church : " No alteration or addition shall be made in the 
Book of Common Prayer, or other offices of the Church, unless 
the same shall be proposed in one General Convention, and by 
a resolve thereof made known to the Convention of every 
diocese or State, and adopted at the subsequent General Con- 
vention." 



The whole body of Canons was revised and 
amended. A Pastoral Letter was set forth by 
the Bishops at the request of the House of Deputies. 
Resolutions were adopted, urging the propriety, 
necessity, and duty of sending regularly a deputation 
to the General Convention ; inviting the Church, 
in States not yet received into union with the Con- 
vention, to accede to the Constitution thereof ; 
advising the clergy in States or Territories where 
the Church is still unorganized to organize and ac- 
cede to the Constitution ; and taking measures for 
sending a bishop into the States and Territories 
where the Church is unorganized. A resolution 
expressing disapproval of associated rectoi*ships was 
adopted. It was further resolved " to add thirty 
hymns to the present number contained in the 
Prayer Book, provided that a Bubric be annexed 
thereto, directing that a certain portion, or portions, 
of the Psalms of David, in metre, be sung at every 
celebration of divine service." The title of the 
Office of Induction was changed to " Office of 
Institution," and its use made permissory. The 
following concurrent resolutions were adopted : 



112 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

1. Besohcd, — That the Ministers of this Church ought not 
to perlorm the funeral service in the case of any person who 
shall give or accept a challenge to a duel. 

3. Resolved, — That it is the sense of this Church, that it is in- 
consistent with the law of God, and the Ministers of this 
Church, therefore, shall not unite in matrimony any person 
who is divorced, unless it be on account of the other party 
having been guilty of adultery. 

In concluding our notices of this Convention we 
may quote the words of Bishop White : " On 
a retrospect of the transactions of this Convention 
there is entertained the trust that it did not end 
without a general tendency to consolidate the com- 
munion ; although, in the course of the business, 
there had been displayed, more than in any other 
Convention, the influence of some notions leading 
far wide of that rational devotion, which this 
Church has inherited from the Church of England. 
The spirit here complained of, was rather moderated 
than raised higher during the session. But it being 
liable to be combined with schemes of personal 
consequence, there is no foreseeing to what lengths 
it may extend in future."* 

Only one hundred and sixty-nine names appear 
on the clergy list, there being no return from 
Virginia. 

* White's Memoirs, p. 308. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 113 



THE CONYEIS^TIO]^ OF 1811. 

In 1811, the Convention met for the first and 
only time in IS^ew-England. Its session, lasting but 
four days, from May 21st to May 24th, inclusive, 
was held in Trinity Church, Kew-Haven. Nine 
States v^^ere represented by twenty-five clerical and 
twenty-two lay deputies. Delaware, Virginia, and 
South-Carolina sent no representatives. The Rev. 
Dr. Isaac Wilkins, of Kew-York, was chosen Pre- 
sident, and the Rev. Ashbel Baldwin, of Connecti- 
cut, Secretary, of the House of Deputies. Bishop 
White preached the opening sermon. The Con- 
vention repealed the last (or 46th) of the Canons 
as codified at the preceding session, '^ providing for 
making known the Constitution and Canons," but 
it enacted no new canons, and its legislation only 
ratified the constitutional provision respecting 
changes in the Prayer Book, still in force. The 
testimonials of two Bishops-elect, Ilobart and Gris- 
wold, were presented, but owing to the presence 
of but two bishops, "White and Jarvis, the consecra- 
tion was delayed till the aid of Bishop Provoost 
could be had, which was with difficulty secured, 
even in New-York, the place of his residence. The 
measures proposed for the election and support of 
a Missionary Bishop for the western frontiers had 
failed of success, and the subject was committed in 



114 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

the care of the Bishops of Pennsylvania and Yirgi- 
nia. Action was taken, tending to secure the 
lands in Yermont, belonging to the venerable 
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in For- 
eign Parts, of the Mother Church of England, for 
the Church's use. The resolution adopted at the 
last Convention, denying the use of the Burial 
Service over the bodies of those killed in duel, was 
modified so as to allow its use in cases where evi- 
dence of sincere repentance was exhibited. It was 
agreed not to take up, at present, the important 
subject of marriages within certain degrees of con- 
sanguinity and affinity. The report of the state of 
the Church, now first presented, was encouraging, 
save so far as the Southern States were concerned. 
In Maryland the Church was " still in a deplorable 
condition." In Virginia there was " danger of her 
total ruin." The efforts of the Connecticut Con- 
vention to obtain a college charter for the Cheshire 
Academy were endorsed by resolution of both 
Houses. A second Pastoral was set forth. One 
hundred and seventy-eight names appear on the 
clergy list, no returns being made from Delaware 
and Yirginia. 

The Convention had been " held under very 
serious and well-founded apprehensions that the 
American Church would be again subjected to the 
necessity of having recourse to the Mother Church 
for the Episcopacy ; or else of continuing it without 
requiring the canonical number, which might be 
productive of great disorder in future." Happily, 
on the 29th of May, in Trinity Church in the city 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUBCH. 115 

of New- York, the Eev. Jolm Henry Hobart, D.D., 
was consecrated Bishop of New-York, and the Rev. 
Alexander Yiets Griswold, Bishop of the " Eastern 
Diocese," comprising the States of Massachusetts, 
(and afterwards Maine,) Rhode Island, New-Hamp- 
shire, and Yermont. The consecration was ac- 
complished by the aid of Bishop Provoost, "al- 
though he had never performed any ecclesiastical 
duty since the consecration of Bishop Moore in 
1801." * No little discussion arose in consequence 
of the omission by the presiding Bishop, at the 
imposition of hands upon the Bishops-elect, of the 
words, " In the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost." It appeared on 
investigation that these words formed " no part of 
the form of the Church of England, under the 
reign of Charles II. ; were never in that of the 
primitive Church ; and are not in the Roman 
pontifical, at this day." f 

* White's Memoire, p. 209. f Ibid., p. 215. 



116 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



THE CONYENTIOK OF 1814. 

Eleven States were represented at the Conven- 
tion held in Philadelphia, in 1814. Five bishops 
and forty nine deputies, twenty-eight clerical and 
twenty-one lay, were in attendance. The Rev. Dr. 
Croes, of l^ew-Jersey, was chosen President of the 
lower House, and the Rev. Ashbel Baldwin, of 
Connecticut, Secretary ; James Milnor, then a 
Candidate for Orders, and lately a Member of 
Congress and a rising politician, was appointed 
Assistant Secretary. Evidences of a new life ap- 
peared at the outset, for both South-Carolina and 
Virginia were represented, and on the second day 
of the session the Rev. Richard Channing Moore, 
D.D., was consecrated Bishop of the latter State. 

A lay member of the Church at Lexington, 
Kentucky, was admitted to the privilege of an 
honorary seat. It was decided that a clergyman, 
(the Rev. J. P. K. Henshaw, afterwards Bishop of 
Rhode Island,) who had removed from the diocese 
of Vermont subsequent to his election as a clerical 
deputy, should be admitted to a seat as a member 
of the Convention. At the instance of the lower 
House, the celebration of the Lord's Supper was 
added to the prayers and sermon with which the Con- 
vention was to be opened in future. The reprinting 
of the Journals of the General Convention was or- 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 117 

dered,* the subject of a Theological Seminary was 
broached, and the identity of the Church in the 
United States '^ with the body heretofore known by 
the name of the Chm'ch of England " was declared. 
In a majority of the dioceses the report of the state 
of the Church was encouraging. But in Delaware 
the condition was " truly distressing and the pros- 
pect gloomy." In Maryland the Church still con- 
tiniied '' in a state of depression." In Virginia the 
Church had '^ fallen into a deplorable condition ;" 
"in many places her ministers" had "thrown off 
their sacred profession ;" her liturgy " was either 
contemned or unknown," " her sanctuaries deso- 
late ;" " spacious temples, venerable even in their 
dilapidation and ruins," were " now the habitations 
of the wild beast of the forest." A canon, respect- 
ing the appropriation of the Communion Alms, 
was passed, and the House of Bishops placed on 
record its opinion " that it was contrary to the 
design of the canon" (the 19th) "for candidates to 
read sermons from the places usually considered as 
appropriated to ordained ministers, or to appear in 
bands, or gowns, or surplices." The study of the 
Homilies was enjoined upon candidates for Holy 
Orders. Standing was recommended as " the more 
comely posture" during the singing of psalms in 

* This order resulted in the appearance, in 1817, of an octavo 
volume of nearly 400 pages, edited by Bishop White, and 
published by John Bioren, of Philadelphia, in which were re- 
printed the Journals of 1785-1814 inclusive, the Canons of 
1789-1814, with the Constitution and the Pastorals of 1808, 
1811, and 1814. This volume has long since been out of print, 
and is almost as difficult to obtain as the originals of the 
Journals which it reproduces. 



118 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

metre, and the hymns. It was resolved that it 
would not be proper for the Convention or the 
House of Bishops " to give their sanction to any 
work, however tending to religious instruction, or 
to the excitement of pious affections." On an ap- 
plication for the sanction of the Convention to a 
proposed addition to the anthem appointed for cer- 
tain festivals instead of the Yenite^ the determina- 
tion not to enter into a review of the Book of Com- 
mon Prayer during this session was expressed. It 
was resolved that efforts should be taken to make 
known the Constitution and Canons of the Church 
and the proceedings of the Conventions. It was 
recommended that the ecclesiastical authority of 
each diocese should prepare a report on the state of 
the Church before the meeting of each General 
Convention for the purpose of aiding the commit- 
tee of the House of Deputies appointed to consider 
this subject. The declaration of identity with the 
Church of England, concurred in by both Houses, 
to which reference has been made, was as follows : 

It having been credibly stated to the House of Bishops, that 
on questions, in reference to property devised, before the Revo- 
lution, to congregations belonging to " the Church of England," 
and to uses connected with that name, some doubts have beerr 
entertained in regard to the identity of the body to which the 
two names have been applied, the House think it expedient to 
make the declaration, and to request the concurrence of the 
House of Clerical and Lay Deputies therein — That " The Pro- 
testant Episcopal Church in the United States of America," is 
the same body heretofore known in these States by the name 
of " The Church of England ;" the change of name, although 
not of religious principle, in doctrine, or in worship, or in dis- 
cipline, being induced by a characterietic of the Church of 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 119 

England, supposing tlie independence of Christian churches, 
under the different sovereignties to which, respectively, their 
allegiance in civil concerns belongs. But that, when the seve- 
rance alluded to took place, and ever since, the Church conceives 
of herself as professing and acting on the principles of the 
Church of England, is evident from the organization of our Con- 
ventions, and from their subsequent proceedings, as recorded 
on the Journals, to which, accordingly, this Convention refer 
for satisfaction in the premises. But it would be contrary to 
fact, were any one to infer that the discipline exercised in this 
Church, or that any proceediogs therein, are at all dependent 
on the will of the civil or of the ecclesiastical authority of any 
foreign country.* 

On an application from the clerical deputies of 
the Church in Connecticut, for a definition of the 
phrase in the 40th canon, " or by some other joint 
act of the parties, and of a minister of this 
Church," the Bishops expressed the " opinion, that 
any person duly baptized, in any religious society 
extraneous to this communion, joining himself to 
any congregation of this communion, and possess- 
ing an interest in its concerns, in consequence of 
express or implied permission, may be properly 
entered by the minister on the list of the names of 
the persons under his parochial care. But the 
Bishops do not consider themselves as now called 
upon to consider, whether it may not be expedient 
to make provision for a more definite mode for the 
receiving into this Church of persons not baptized 
within its pale, but joining it on conviction and 
with fair characters." f 

* Perry's Reprint of Journals, I., pp. 431, 432; vide also 
Bishop White's Memoirs of the Church, pp. 221-224. 

\ Perry's Reprint of the Journals, I. , pp. 436, 437 ; compare 
Bishop White's Memoirs, p. 217. 



120 THE GENEKAL CONVENTION ' 

A Pastoral was set forth, and, with those preced- 
ing it, ordered to be printed in the appendix to the 
new edition of the Journals, to be published under 
the editorship of Bishop White. The clergy list 
showed a slight increase, though Virginia made no 
report, and the number of names was less than two 
hundred. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 121 



THE CONYEKTIOIS' OF 1817. 

The Convention of 1817 met in ^ew-York, at 
Trinity Church, continuing in session from the 20th 
to the 27th day of May, inchisive. The Eev. Dr. 
Wilkins was elected President, and the Rev. Mr. 
Baldwin, Secretary, with Rev. John C. Rudd as his 
assistant. ]^orth-Carolina w^as admitted into nnion 
with the Convention. The resignation of the Pre- 
sident of the House of Deputies, tendered in con- 
sequence of his difficulty of hearing, was accepted, 
and the Rev. "William H. Wilmer, of Yirginia, ap- 
pointed in his stead. The organization of a Theo- 
logical Seminary was resolved upon, and agents were 
appointed to solicit funds in its behalf. Three 
canons were passed — one, permissory in its nature, 
giving authority to the parishes in Western Penn- 
sylvania and Yirginia to place themselves under the 
jurisdiction of any bishop consecrated for any State 
or States west of the Alleghanies ; another, to gov- 
ern in the case of a minister declaring his renun- 
ciation of the ministry ; and a third, for carrying 
into effect the design of the second rubric before the 
Communion Office. The bishops placed on record 
an expression of their disapprobation of worldly 
and licentious amusements, an effort to secure a 
similar resolution in the lower House having failed 
of a direct vote. This minute is as follows : — 

The House of Bishops, solicitous for tlie preservation of 
the purity of the Church and the piety of its members, are 



1Q2 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

induced to impress upon the clergy the important duty, with a 
discreet but earnest zeal, of warning the people of their re- 
pective cures of the danger of an indulgence in those woiidiy 
pleasures which may tend to withdraw the afEections iroiu 
spiritual things. And especially on the subject of gambling, 
of amusements involving cruelty to the brute creation, and 
of theatrical representations, to which some peculiar circum- 
stances have called their attention, — they do not hesitate to 
express their unanimous opinion, that these amusements, as 
well from their licentious tendency as from the strong tempta- 
tions to vice which they afford, ought not to be frequented. 
And the Bishops can not refrain from expressing their deep 
regret at the information that in some of our large cities so 
little respect is paid to the feelings of the members of the 
Church, that theatrical representations are fixed for the even- 
ings of her most solemn festivals.* 

The proposal to grant a copyright on the Book of 
Common Prayer, referred to this Convention by 
that of 1814, was disallowed. Steps were taken, 
subject to the decision of the next Convention, 
changing the time of meeting from May to October. 
The House of Bishops were requested to designate 
a standard Bible ; a measure taken in consequence 
of the discovery of a large edition of the Scriptures 
containing a corruption of Acts 6 : 3, implying a sanc- 
tion of congregational ordination.f A French ver- 
sion of the Book of Common Prayer, the Psalms 
in Metre, and Hymns and Offices, was authorized. 
The following minute was adopted by the Bishops 
and communicated to the House of Deputies : 

The House of Bishops, impressed with the importance of 
informing the youth and others in the Doctrines, Constitution, 

* Perry's Reprint of the Journals, I., p. 494. 
f Instead of " whom we may appoint over this businees^.' the 
edition referred to had it "whom ye may appoint," etc. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 123 

and Liturgy of the Church, deem it their duty to call the 
attention of the Clergy to the 22d Canon, which enjoins on 
them diligence in catechetical instruction and lectures. The 
Bishops consider these as among the most important duties of 
clergymen, and among the most effectual means of promoting 
religious knowledge and practical piety.* 

The organization of the congregations in the 
"Western States into dioceses was urged, but the 
union of several States in one convention was pro- 
nounced inconsistent with the Constitution. The 
organization of nineteen parishes in the State of 
Ohio was reported, and the state of the Church in 
every diocese, save Delaware, was deemed full of 
encouragement. The clergy list specifies the age of 
one clergyman in Yirginia as 100, and, without 
reporting the western laborers, gives two hundred 
and sixty-two names. 

* Reprinted Journals, I., p. 491. 



124: THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



THE COKYEKTIOK OF 1820. 

The next Convention met in St. James's Church, 
Philadelphia, May 16th to 24:th, inclusive. Eight 
bishops and thirty-six clerical, with twenty-seven 
lay deputies were in attendance, representing four- 
teen dioceses. The officers of the last Convention 
were re-elected. The State of Maine, just orga- 
nized into separate existence, was admitted into 
union. The transfer of the Theological School from 
]S"ew-York to ITew-Haven, and the arrangement in 
detail of its management, officers, course of study, 
and general plan, occupied the greater part of the 
session. The concurrence of the House of Bishops 
in this change of location was accompanied with a 
unanimous declaration that they did not " mean by 
this concurrence to interfere with any plan now 
contemplated, or that may hereafter be contemplated, 
in any diocese or dioceses, for the establishment of 
theological institutions or professorships." The state 
of the Church in each diocese was reported as satis- 
factory, and in transmitting their report to the 
Bishops, the Lower House solicited the opinion of 
the House of Bishops in a Pastoral on the too gen- 
eral custom of administering Baptism privately, and 
also on the subject of the qualifications of sponsors. 
The House of Bishops was requested " to take mea- 
sures for making known any errors or omissions in 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 125 

the octavo edition of the Book of Common Prayer, 
published bj Gaine in 1 793, which was established 
by the 43d Canon as the standard book, so that they 
may be avoided or supplied in future editions." 
Certain " instructions to be observed in editions of 
the Book of Common Prayer" were adopted by 
concurrent vote : 

1. That special attention be paid to tlie title-page and table 
of contents, so that nothing may be omitted or added. 

2. That the Book of Common Prayer be distinguished from 
the Book of Psalms in Metre, the Articles of Religion, and sun- 
dry Offices set forth by this Church, viz.: — The Form and Man- 
ner of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating Bishops, Priests, 
and Beacons ; The Form of Consecration of a Church or Chapel ; 
A Prayer to he used at the Meetings of Convention ; An Office of 
Institution of Ministers into Parishes oi' Churches — all which 
are of equal authority with the Book of Common Prayer, but 
which, when bound up with it, ought not to appear as parts 
thereof.* 

The creation of a General Convention Fund was 
recommended. Measures were taken for the col- 
lection of both General and Diocesan Convention 
Journals and other documents illustrating our eccle- 
siastical history. The formation of a missionary 
society of the Churchf was attempted, but in such 
a way that the scheme came to naught. A joint 
committee for the " establishment of a standard " 
by which copies of the Scriptures should be cor- 
rected, was appointed. An application for extend- 
ing the sanction of the Convention to a Selection of 
Psalms and Hymns, made from the authorized 

* Reprinted Journals, I., pp. 557, 558. 

f Vide Bishop White's Memoirs, pp. 242, 243. 



126 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Psalms in Metre and Hymns, was refused. The 
proposed change of the time of meeting of tlie 
Convention was negatived, and a further alteration 
of the Constitution, giving to each Convention the 
appointment of the time and place of the next 
session, was laid over for consideration. The open- 
ing sermon by Bishop Moore, of Virginia, occa- 
sioned discussion. The occasion of this was, as we 
learn from Bishop White,''^ ''the preacher's having 
made baptismal regeneration one of the points of 
his discourse.'' 

The Bishop proceeds : 

So far aa the duty of a conventional preacher is concerned, 
the author is of opinion that there should be carefully avoided 
all questions on which the sense of the Episcopal Church is 
doubtful ; but it is to be lamented that there should be brought 
undSr this head a doctrine which we have been taught to lisp 
in the earliest repetitions of our catechism ; wh'ch pervades 
sundry of our devotional services, especially the baptismal ; 
which is affirmed in our Articles also ; which was confessedly 
held and taught during the ages of the martyrs, and the belief 
of which was universal in the Church until it was perceived to 
be inconsistent with a religious theory, the beginning and pro- 
gress of which can be as distinct y traced as those of any error 
of popery, f 

A canon, requiring the reading of the Pastoral 
Letters by the clergy to their congregations, was 
enacted, and another "of the Consecration of 
Bishops during the recess of the General Conven- 
tion." The Hoflse of Bishops refused to concur in a 
canon " of the officiating of persons not regularly 

* Memoirs, p. 236. f Ibid. 



OP THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 127 

ordained, and repealing the 35tli canon," proposed 
by the House of Deputies, and communicated the 
following statement of their reasons for non-concur- 
rence : 

The Bishops have found by experience that such ministers 
in many instances, preaching in our churches and to our con- 
gregations, avail themselves of such opportunities to inveigh 
against the principles of our communion ; and in some instances 
have endeavored to obtain a common right with us in our 
property. It is therefore, not from the want of charity to 
worthy persons dissenting from us, but for the maintenance of 
Buch charity, and to avoid collision, that we declare our non- 
concurrence. 

The Church was now rapidly extending on 
every side, and the clergy list records over three 
hundred names. 



128 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



THE SPECIAL CO:^rYE]SrTION OF 1821. 

The affairs of the Theological Seminary occasioned 
a call for a special Convention, which met in St. 
Peter's Church, Philadelphia, the 30th of October, 
and continued in session until the 3d of November, 
inclusive. Six bishops and thirty-two clerical depu- 
ties, representing eleven dioceses, and tw^enty-seven 
lay deputies from ten dioceses, were in attendance. 
The Convention assembled on the call of the presid- 
ing Bishop, at the desire of a majority of the bish- 
ops, to consider whether any measures should be 
adopted to secure a legacy of about $60,000, be- 
queathed by Jacob Sherred, of the city of New- York, 
to a seminary which should be founded within the 
State, either by the General or the Diocesan Con- 
vention. As a result, the Seminaries of New- 
Haven and New- York were consolidated, and the 
General Seminary of the Church established in the 
city of New- York. The Bishops were to be trustees 
ex officio / the other trustees were to be nominated 
by the dioceses, and to be residents within the 
limits thereof, subject to the confirmation or re- 
jection of the General Convention. Each diocese 
was entitled to one trustee, and to one additional for 
every $2000 contributed in the same to the funds of 
the Seminary until the sum given amounted to 
$10,000, and one additional trustee for every 



OP THE AMEETCAN CHURCH. 129 

$10,000 exceeding. The Seminary had power to 
establish branches, and one was temporarily in ope- 
ration in Geneva, Western New- York. At this 
Convention, the Constitution of the Missionary So- 
ciety of the Church was perfected. A single canon 
respecting the Standard Prayer Book was enacted. 
An interesting report on the errors and omissions 
of Hugh Gaine's edition of the Standard Prayer 
Book of 1793 was appended to the Journal, together 
with a table of the days on which Easter will fall, 
which has only within the past few years ceased to 
be of service. The House of Bishops also placed 
on record their sense of the meaning of the last 
Pubric in the Communion service in the following 
important paper : 

Concerning the last Rubric m the Communion 
Service. 

The House of Bishops being informed of what they consider 
as a great misunderstanding, in variou s places, of the rubric at 
the end of the communion service, think it their duty to declare 
their sense of the same, and to communicate it to the House of 
Clerical and Lay Deputies. 

In the Common Prayer Book of the Church of England, the 
words in the parenthesis are — " if there be no communion." In 
the review of 1789, it was put — " if there be no sermon or com- 
munion" — and this has been interpreted to mean, that if there 
be a sermon, what has been called the ante- communion service 
is to be omitted— Against this construction the Bishops object 
as follows — 

1st. The construction rests on inference ; deduced in con- 
trariety to the positive direction—" Then shall follow the ser- 
mon," Had an exception been intended, it would doubtless 
have been expressed positively, as in other rubrics. Further 
the rubric in question prescribes that " when there is a com- 
munion, the minister shall return to the Lord's table :" which 



130 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

presumes liim to have been there before, in the ante-comnm- 
nion service, unless in the permitted alternative of some other 
place. 

2d, The argument on the other side proves too much, and 
tlnrefore nothing. It is said of those who urge it, that they 
conceive themselves bound to use the whole service on a com- 
munion day : whereas it should be dispensed with, on the 
same principle on which it is supposed to be superseded by the 
sermon. On the other hand, if there being either a sermon oi- 
the communion should be thought to warrant the omission ; 
can it be, that the convention designed to leave in the book the 
ante-communion service, with all the collects, the gospels, and 
the epistles attached to them, to be little more than a dead let- 
ter ; never to be used, except on the few occasions, when the 
said service is unconnected with either of the said provisions ? 
For, it is not required to be used, either with the morning or 
with the evening prayer. 

3d. There is a rubric, prescribing tlie place in the service, at 
which notice shall be given of holidays, etc. Can it be sup- 
posed, that a provision of this sort was intended to be done 
away, not professedly, but indirectly ? and that even there 
should be no provision for notifying the communion ? 

4th. It is understood, that the morning prayer, and the ad- 
ministration of the communion, were designed to be distinct 
services, to be used at different times of the day. Probably, at 
the time of the reformation, the practice was generally con- 
formable to the provision ; and it is said to prevail at present 
in some places in England. Now, although there is probably 
no church in the United States of which the same can be affirm- 
ed ; yet, why raise a bar against so reasonable and so godly a 
practice ? an effort for which, would reduce the whole to the 
sermon ; except, when the communion were to be administered ; 
and then, there would be the latter part of the service only. 

5th. The construction casta a blemish on the observance of 
every festival of our church. To speak in particular of Easter 
Sunday, Whitsunday, and Christmas day : can it be supposed, 
that the convention intended to abrogate the reading of the 
portions of scripture, the most pertinent of any in the Bible ? 
or that the members of the body were so careless, as not to per- 
ceive the effect of the word introduced by them into the paren- 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 131 

thesis ? Neither of these was the case ; although they had not 
the sagacity to foresee the use which would be made of their 
super-addition : a use, which may be applied hereafter to the 
abandoning of the observance of those festivals. For why 
should the church retain them, after dispensing with whatever 
is attached to them in the respective services ? The remark ap- 
plies equally to the two days of fasting or abstinence — Good 
Friday and Ash Wednesday. It is here supposed, that on the 
former, there are the service and sermons in all our churches 
furnished with the ministry. But according to the opposite 
opinion, the sermon dispenses with the recital of the consum- 
mation of our Saviour's suflEerings, and not only on Grood Fri- 
day, but on every day of passion week, if there be sermons. 
Could this have been intended ? 

6th. There is the magnitude of the change thus made in the 
liturgy, without the subjecting of the resulting consequences 
to the consideration of any General Convention : for tliis is here 
affirmed without the apprehension of contradiction from any of 
the surviving members. The most obvious of the consequen- 
ces, and such as could not have escaped the notice of the least 
attentive, were, the dispensing with the reading of the Ten 
Commandments ; the weekly return of which may well be 
thought to have a beneficial effect on morals ; and the derang- 
ing of a selection of passages of scripture, always supposed to 
have been made with great judgment, and suited to the diffe- 
rent seasons of tlie year. They were of like uses in the church, 
before the prevalence of the corruption of the papacy ; have 
withstood, in some measure, its systematic hostility to a gene- 
ral knowledge of the scriptures ; and probably, have prevented 
a greater enormity of unevangelical error, than what we now 
find : for although the selections were in Latin, they were at 
least instructive to the many who understood the language, at 
a time when even among that description of people, the pos- 
session of a Bible was rare. To the present day, they are held 
in high esteem, not only by our parent church, but by the 
Lutheran churches of Sweden, of Denmark, of sundry German 
principalities, and of this country. In some of the European 
States, the subject of the sermon is expected to be taken from 
the epistle, or from the gospel for the Sunday. There seems 
no reasonable objection, in any future review of the Liturgy, 



1J2 HE GENERAL CONVENTION 

to the making of some abbreviation, suited to the joining of 
services designed to be distinct ; but there may be doubted the 
expediency of making so great an inroad as that projected on 
the service now in question. 

7th. The ante- communion service continued to be used as be- 
fore, by the clergy vrho were present in the convention, in 
which it is now imagined to have been dispensed with. It is 
confidently believed that there was not an exception of an indi- 
vidual ; although, on the other side, the major number must 
be supposed to have been desirous of the innovation. In the 
interpretation of a law, immediate practice under it has been 
held to be a good expositor : especially when, as in the present 
case, a contrary sense had not been heard of for a long course 
of years. 

The question may occur — why did the convention introduce 
the words, " Sermon or," into the parenthesis? It was to re- 
concile the other rubric referred to, with frequent and allowa- 
ble practice. The said rubric says — "then shall follow the 
sermon. " Perhaps, when the service was compiled there was 
a sermon on every saint's day, as well as on every principal 
festival. In modern usage, it has been otherwise : which made 
it convenient to provide for the minister's proceeding to the 
blessing. The parenthesis means, that although there be no 
sermon, or although there be no communion, the minister shall 
act as directed by the rubric. 

The bishops therefore deem it their duty to express the de- 
cided opinion, that the rubrics of the communion service as 
well as other general considerations enjoin the use of that part 
which precedes the sermon, on all occasions of sermon or com- 
munion, as well as on those festivals and fasts, when neither 
sermon nor communion occurs.* 



We can not better conclude our notice of this 
brief but eventful Convention than by quoting 
the closing article of the Constitution of the 

* For further notices of this rubric, mdt Bishop White's Me- 
moirs, pp. 245, 246. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 133 

Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, adopted 
at this session : 

Akt. XII. 

It is recommended to every member of this society, to pray 
to Almighty God, for his blessing upon its designs, under the 
full conviction that unless he direct us in all our doings with 
his most gracious favor, and further us with his continual 
help, we can not reasonably hope, either to procure suitable 
persons to act as missionaries, or expect that their endeavors 
will be successful. 



134 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



THE CONYENTIOlSr OF 1823. 

Seven of the ten Bishops of the Church, and 
forty clerical, with twentj-four lay deputies, repre- 
senting thirteen dioceses, were in attendance upon 
the Convention of 1823, in St. Peter's Church, 
Philadelphia, from the 20th to the 26th of May, 
inclusive. The officers of the last Convention were 
re -elected, but the secretary, Kev. Ashbel Baldwin, 
tendered his resignation, whereupon the Rev. Dr. 
John C. Rudd was chosen in his place, with the Rev. 
James Montgomery as assistant. The first business 
was the reception of the Church in Georgia into 
union with the Convention. The alteration of the first 
article of the Constitution, relative to the change of 
the time and place of meeting, proposed in 1820, 
was adopted. A joint committee was appointed 
to report to the next Convention alterations in the 
Psalms in metre and Hymns. The report of the 
state of the Church attested a general and healthy 
growth. Canons on the admission of candidates 
for orders and prescribing the mode of publishing 
authorized editions of the Standard Bible were 
passed. Provision was made for the contingent ex- 
penses of the General Convention ; and the first 
Bishop of I^orth-Carolina received consecration. 

In the several dioceses, sixty-one candidates for 
Holy Orders were reported, only eighteen of whom 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 135 

were at the General Theological Seminary. The 
House of Bishops commended this Institution as 
" having been established by the whole body of this 
Church in General Convention," and as peculiarly 
demanding "the concurrent solicitudes and exer- 
tions to be centred on it, of all its members ; inas- 
much as this Institution, when possessing the com- 
bined and efficient support of the whole Church, 
must be the most effectual means, under Provi- 
dence, of perpetuating the unity of the Church, in 
the bond of peace." The supply of clergy w^as 
still insufficient. The Bishop of Ohio, with about 
$3000 in his hands, for nearly two years, for the sup- 
port of missionaries in his jurisdiction, had not been 
able to secure them. The closing of the Branch 
General Theological Seminary at Geneva, Western 
]S^ew- York, was, notwithstanding, recommended. A 
joint committee of inquiry respecting the rela- 
tion of the Church to the various institutions of 
learning in the country, were further instructed to 
" report on the practicability of establishing a sem- 
inary or seminaries for the education of youth, 
under the influence and authority of members of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church." The House of 
Bishops gave their " opinion" that it was inexpe- 
dient " to send a delegate, on the part of the 
Church as a body, to act on behalf of the same," 
as desired by the Board of Managers, at a meeting 
of the Colonization Society, the objects of that so- 
ciety being deemed by the Bishops " more of a po- 
litical than of a religious nature." Among other 
documents relating to the history of the Church, 



136 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Bishop White presented a volume of original edi- 
tions of the Journals of General Conventions, 1785- 
1814, with the following autograph attestation pre- 
fixed : " This volume is the only entire collection 
within my knowledge, of the original Journals of 
the General Convention, from the beginning, for the 
space of thirty years. It may be of use in deter- 
mining on any questions which may arise, concern- 
ing any particular of the republication of the Jour- 
nals by John Bioren. Accordingly I deposite it 
with the Committee appointed by the last General 
Convention, for the collection of Journals." * 

Upwards of three hundred and sixty clergy are 
recorded in the clergy list. 

* This interesting volume is still preserved among the ar- 
chives of the Church, at present in the keeping of the author. 
Its value has lately been proved in settling the questiou, in the 
absence of MS. authority, as to an alleged typographical error 
in the 2d Article of the Constitution. Vide Vinton's Manual 
on Canon Law, pp. 190, 191 ; and compare Journal of Gen. 
Conv., 1871, pp. 22, 33, 34 In the recent reissue of the Gene- 
ral Convention Journals, published under the authority of the 
Convention, the present year (1874), this volume has been made 
use of, together with Bishop White's corrected copy of Bioren's 
edition, to secure a perfect text. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 137 



THE CONYENtlOK OF 1826. 

Mississippi claimed admission at the Convention 
which was in session, November 7th to 15th, inclu- 
sive, in St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia. Fifteen 
dioceses were represented by forty-four clerical 
deputies, and twelve dioceses by thirty-one laymen, 
while seventy-live clergymen and candidates for 
orders, not members, are recorded as in attendance 
at this session. The resolutions introduced by 
Bishop Hobart, with the design of securing unifor- 
mity in the use of the Ante-Communion Service, 
at the expense of a slight abbreviation of portions 
of the daily prayer, and also proposing alternate 
forms in the Confirmation Office, formed a marked 
feature in the discussions of this Convention. 
Their importance justifies their presentation in full. 

On motion of the Right Rev. Bishop Hobart, resohed, that 
the House of Bishops propose the following preambles and 
resolutions to the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies: — 

The House of Bishops, deeply solicitous to preserve unim- 
paired the Liturgy of the Church, and yet desirous to remove 
the reasons alleged, from the supposed length of the service, 
for the omission of some of its parts, and particularly for the 
omission of that part of the communion ofl&ce, which is com- 
monly called the awie-communion, do unanimously propose to 
the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, the following resolu- 
tions, to be submitted to the several State Conventions, in 
order to be acted upon at the next General Convention, agree- 
ably to the eighth article of the Constitution. 



138 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

1. Besolved, that in " The order how the Psalter is appointed 
to be read," the following be added to the fourth paragraph — 
"or any other psalm or psalms, except on those days on which 
proper psalms are appointed :" — so that the whole paragraph 
will read as follows : — " The minister, instead of reading from 
the Psalter as divided for daily morning and evening prayer, 
may read one of the selections set out by this Church, or any 
other psalm or psalms, except on those days on which ' proper 
psalms ' are appointed. " 

2. Besolved, that in " The order how the rest of the Holy 
Scripture is appointed to be read," the following be inserted 
after the fifth paragraph : — " The minister may, at his dis- 
cretion, instead of the entire lessons, read suitable portions 
thereof, not less than fifteen verses. And on other days than 
Sundays and holy days, in those places where morning and 
evening prayer is not daily used, he may read other portions of 
the Old and New Testament, instead of the prescribed lessons ; 
it being recommended that, unless circumstances render it 
inexpedient, on the stated prayer-days of Wednesdays and 
Fridays, the lessons for those days, or for one of the inter- 
vening days, be read," 

The Bishops, in the use of the ofllce of Confirmation, finding 
that the preface is frequently not well suited to the age and 
character of those who are presented for this holy ordinance, 
unanimously propose the following resolution : — 

3. Resolved, that after the present preface in the ofiice of 
Confirmation, the following be inserted, to be used instead of 
the former, at the discretion of the Bishop: — " It appears from 
holy Scripture, that the apostles laid their hands on those who 
were baptized ; and this ordinance, styled by the Apostle 
Paul, the ' laying on of hands,' and ranked by him among the 
principles of the doctrine of Christ, has been retained in the 
Church, under the name of Confirmation; and is very con- 
venient, and proper to be observed, to the end that persons 
being sufficiently instructed in what they promised, or what 
was promised for them in their baptism, and being, in other 
respects, duly qualified, may themselves, with their own 
mouth and consent, openly before the Church, ratify and 
confirm the same, and also promise, that by the grace of God, 
they will evermore endeavor themselves faithfully to observe 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 139 

such tilings as thev, by their own confession, have assented 
unto," 

And to correct the injurious misapprehension, as to the 
meaning of certain terms, in the first Collect in the office of 
Confirmation, the Bishops unanimously propose the following 
resolution : — 

4. Resolved, that after the first collect in the office of Con- 
firmation, the following be inserted, to be used at the discre- 
tion of the Bishop, instead of the first collect, " Almighty 
and everliving God, who hast vouchsafed, in baptism, to 
regenerate these thy servants, by water and the Holy Ghost ; 
thus giving them a title to all the blessings of thy covenant 
of grace and mercy, in thy Son Jesus Christ, and now dost 
graciously confirm unto them, ratifying the promises then 
made, all their holy privileges ; grant unto them, we beseech 
thee, O Lord, the renewing of the Holy Ghost ; strengthen 
them with the power of this divine Comforter ; and daily 
increase in them thy manifold gifts of grace, the spirit of 
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and ghostly 
strength, the spirit of knowledge and true godliness, and fill 
them, O Lord, with the spirit of thy holy fear, now and for 
ever. Arnen^" 

And whereas, in the opinion of the Bishops, there is no 
doubt as to the obligation of ministers to say, on all Sundays 
and other holy days, that part of the communion office which 
is commonly called the ante-communion, yet as the practice of 
some of the clergy is not conformable to this construction of 
the rubrick on this point, the House of Bishops propose the 
following resolution : — 

5. Resolved, that the following be adopted as a substitute 
for the first sentence in the rubrick, immediately after the 
communion office : — 

** On all Sundays and other holy days, shall be said, all 
that is appointed at the communion, unto the end of the 
Gospel, concluding divine service, in all cases when there is 
a sermon or communion, and when there is not, with the 
blessing." 

In these resolutions, after no little debate, the 
House of Deputies concurred. It should be noted. 



140 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

as we learn from Bishop White,* " that the proposal 
for abbreviation, as at first sent by the Bishops, 
contained the limiting of the use of the Litany to 
seasons and days especially appointed for humilia- 
tion. This occasioned so great a sensation in the 
House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, that the 
Bishops tacitly withdrew their communication and 
then presented it in the form in which it now 
appears on the Journal." 

'' In the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, 
there were not a few of the objectors who w^ould 
have found no difficulty as to the proposed altera- 
tions in the service, had they not been combined 
with a rubric, considered as requiring the recital 
of the ante-communion service more explicitly than 
before. There was an endeavor to divide the two 
subjects; but this was impossible, as they consti- 
tuted but one proposal from the Bishops. In 
consequence of the adoption of the whole instru- 
ment, the sense of the House of Clerical and Lay 
Deputies is now declared in favor of what the 
Bishops have all along declared, and that unani- 
mously, to be the meaning of the rubric, pro- 
nounced by so many to be dubious." f 

In the House of Deputies it was 

Besohed, That tlie Psalms and Hymns in metre are not, in 
the opinion of this House, a part of the Book of Conamon 
Prayer, or offices of the Church. Provided, nevertheless, that 
they shall be of authority and binding until duly altered or 
amended. 



* Memoirs, p. 52. f Bishop White's Memoirs, p. 53. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 141 

It was further resolved by concurrent vote, 

that it be made known to the several State Conventions of 
this Church, that it is proposed to consider of, and determine 
on, at the next General Convention, the propriety of altering 
the second clause of the eighth article of the Constitution of 
the Church, by adding the words, or the articles of religion, 
after the words " other oflBces of the Church." 

The object of this was to place the " Articles of 
Religion on the same footing with the Liturgy, in 
respect to any alterations which may be proposed."* 

A single canon was enacted, requiring three years 
candidateship previous to ordination. Four hun- 
dred and iifty names appear on the clergy list. 

* Bishop White's Memoirs, p. 55. 



142 THE GEJSEBAL CONVENTION 



THE C0]^YE:N'TI0N of 1829. 

Seventeen dioceses, represented by forty-seven 
clerical deputies, and thirty-seven lay deputies, from 
tifteen dioceses, with nine Bishops, made up tlie 
Convention of 1829, which met in St. James's 
Church, Philadelphia, August 12th to 20th, inclu- 
sive. Of the clerical deputies composing the Low- 
er House, nine were afterwards raised to the Epis- 
copate — A. Potter, B. T. Onderdonk, Kemper, Hop- 
kins, Johns, Stone, Cobbs, Green and Gadsden. 
The Rev. Dr. Wyatt was chosen President of the 
House of Deputies, and the Pev. Dr. B. T. Onder- 
donk was re-elected Secretary, with the Pev. Wm. 
Cooper Mead as his assistant. Two new dioceses, 
Kentucky and Tennessee, were admitted into union 
wdth the Convention. Yirginia applied for the con- 
secration of the Pev. William Meade, D.D., as 
" Assistant or Suffragan Bishop." A difficulty, in 
the way of granting this request, arose from an ano- 
malous limitation of tlie Episcopal authority of the 
assistant bishop to the lifetime of the Bishop he 
was to aid. After a prolonged discussion, the tes- 
timonial was signed, with a declaratory statement 
that the principle involved in this action of the Vir- 
ginia Convention was " highly inexpedient and 
wholly inadmissible.'' 

Article 8 of the Constitution was finallv altered 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUKCH. 143 

by adding the words or the Articles of Religion^ 
after the words " other offices of the Church." The 
House of Deputies requested of the House of Bish- 
ops the expression of their opinion as to the proper 
postures to be observed in the Communion Office, 
with a view of securing uniformity in the celebra- 
tion. 

The changes in the Liturgy, introduced by Bish- 
op Hobart in 1826, having been ahnost unanimously 
condemned in the State Conventions, were, on the 
Bishop's own motion, " dismissed from the conside- 
ration of the Convention." The " deficiency in 
the number of the clergy" occasioned attention and 
elicited resolutions in both Houses and received at- 
tention in the Pastoral Letter issued by the bishops. 
Vermont reported w4th respect to the lands for- 
merly belonging to the venerable Society for Prop- 
agating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, " that all the 
material points of law had been settled in favor of 
the Church." An African Mission School, to pre- 
pare young men of color for usefulness in the col- 
ony at Liberia, had been established (1828) in Hart- 
ford, Conn. In Pennsylvania, an assistant Bishop 
(H. IT. Onderdonk, D.D.)had been consecrated, af- 
ter a struggle in which the diocese had " not escaped 
its share of the agitation usually incident to the man- 
agement of elections, whether in Church or State." 
Virginia reported arrangements for the permanent 
establishment of the Theological Seminary of the 
diocese. The establishment of scholarships in the 
General Seminary was recommended to the Church, 
and the sending of a missionary to Liberia advised. 



144: 'HIE GENERAL CONVENTION 

The copy-right of the Hymns served to render a 
special assessment of one dollar for each clergyman, 
for the expenses of the Convention, unnecessary. 
Seven canons were passed, meeting the case of mi- 
nisters coming from the denominations ; of offenses ; 
of renunciations of the ministry ; of clerical re- 
movals ; of assistant bishops ; respecting churches 
in which Divine Service is celebrated in foreign 
languages; and of parish boundaries. Over five 
hundred clergymen were reported in the clergy list. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 145 



THE CONVENTION OF 1832. 

Thirteen bishops, iifty-oiie clerical, and thirty- 
eight lay deputies, representing twenty-one dioceses, 
made up the Convention of 1832, which convened 
in St. Panl's Chapel, in the city of New- York, Oc- 
tober 17th, and continued in session until October 
31st. The Kev. Dr. Wyatt was elected President 
of the House of Deputies, and the Rev. Dr. An- 
thon, Secretary. Four Bishops, Hopkins, B. B. 
Smith, Mcllvaine, and G. W. Doane, received con- 
secration at its close, and the chief interest of the 
session centred in the grave question which arose, 
touching the resignation, by Bishop Chase, of the 
Episcopate of Ohio. 

The action of the two Houses in this important 
matter was not concurrent. We give the resolu- 
tion adopted by the House of Bishops, which, with 
the accompanying " protestation," failed of securing 
the concurrence of the House of Deputies : 

Resolved, As the sense of this Convention, that the Right 
Rev. Philander Chase, considering himself to have resigned 
the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Ohio, having removed from 
that State to the Territory of Michigan, and renounced the 
Episcopal charge of the Diocese of Ohio, an exigency of the 
Church in that Diocese has thus been occasioned, and has exist- 
ed since the 5th of September, 1832, for which this Convention 
see no way in which provision can be duly made, but by the 
consecration of another Bishop for that Diocese. 



1J:6 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

On motion, tlie following protestation was order- 
ed to be annexed to the above resolution, viz. : 

The House of Bishops beg leave to inform the House of Cler- 
ical and Lay Deputies, that in adopting the foregoing resolu- 
tion, they feel impelled to add their solemn protestation against 
its being drawn into a precedent on any future occasion. 

The Bishops are deeply impressed with a consideration of 
the evils which may result to the Church, from the capricious 
and unregulated resignations of Episcopal jurisdiction. They 
are of opinion that the acts of the Right Rev. Bishop Chase, by 
which he has relinquished the Episcopate of the Diocese of 
Ohio, and removed to a territory beyond the organized jurisdic- 
tion of this Church, are not warranted by any regulation of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, nor by 
any general usage of the Church ; yet, inasmuch as they have 
been performed without any positive law of this Church to the 
contrary, as we can devise no way of reconciling the Right Rev. 
Bishop Chase and the Diocese of Ohio, and as the House of 
Bishops are earnestly desirous of restoring peace to that Dio- 
cese, they are ready to concur in the necessary and proper mea- 
sures for consecrating a successor to Bishop Chase in the Epis- 
copate of Ohio. 

The House of Bishops hope that the House of Clerical and 
Lay Deputies will concur with them in this protestation, and 
in the passage of a Canon prohibiting Episcopal resignations, 
except on great and urgent occasions, and regulating the man- 
ner in which they shall be made, and also designating the ec- 
clesiastical body to whose approval they shall be subjected. 

In place of the above, the House of Deputies 
adopted the following resolutions : 

Resohed, That the Right Rev. Philander Chase, having re- 
linquished and abandoned the Episcopal charge of the Diocese 
of Ohio, and removed from the said State, this House does con- 
sider the Episcopate of Ohio as vacant. And whereas, the 
Diocese of Ohio having, by the dereliction of the said Right 
Rev. P. Chase, been deprived of Episcopal services since the 
9th day of September, 1831, the Convention thereof did, on the 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 147 

7th day of September, 1833, by a majority of the voices of the 
Clergy and of the Laity duly assembled, nominate and elect the 
Rev. Charles P. Mcllvaine as Bishop of the said Diocese, and 
the testimonials touching the said election have been duly certi- 
fied to this House, with the view to their taking the necessary 
steps toward the consecration of the said Rev. C. P. Mcllvaine 
as Bishop of Ohio, agreeably to the Canons in such case made 
and provided ; and whereas, in the opinion of this House, the 
welfare of the Church requires that the State of Ohio should 
not continue longer destitute of the services of a Bishop. 
Therefore — 

Resolved, That this House will now proceed to consider and 
sign the testimonials in behalf of the Rev. Charles P. Mcll- 
vaine, as Bishop of Ohio, aforesaid. 

Resolved, That it is not the intention of this House, by any 
proceeding on this occasion, to sanction the principle that a 
Bishop can resign of his own will, with or without the consent 
of his Diocese. 

The result in both. Houses was the same. The 
testimonials were approved, and the consecration of 
Dr. Mcllvaine took place. The Bishops declined 
to exercise a visitatorial power in their aggregate 
capacity, with respect to the institutions at Gam- 
bier, Ohio. It was in connection with the four-fold 
consecration at this Convention that the following 
" Rule of the House of Bishops " was adopted, viz. : 

The senior Bishop of the Church present at any general Con- 
vention, is the presiding Bishop in the House of Bishops. 

The senior Bishop of this Church is the presiding Bishop for 
all other purposes contained in the Canons. 

The senior Bishop of this Church present at any consecra- 
tion of a Bishop, is the presiding Bishop for that solemnity. 

Seniority among the Bishops is according to the time of the 
consecration of each Bishop. 

In response to a request made by the House of 
Deputies at the preceding Convention, the Bishops 



148 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

placed on record, and ordered to be communicated 
to the other House, their opinion as to the proper 
postures to be observed in the celebration of the 
Holy Communion, as follows : 

The House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, having at the 
last Convention requested the House of Bishops to express 
their opinion as to the proper postures to be used in the Com- 
munion ofl&ce, with a view of effecting uniformity in that re- 
spect, during its celebration, and the request having been then 
ordered to lie on the table for future consideration, the House 
of Bishops now communicated to the House of Clerical and Lay 
Deputies the opinion thus requested of them, as follows : 

First, with regard to the officiating priest, they are of opin- 
ion that as the Holy Communion is of a spiritually sacrificial 
character, the standing posture should be observed by him, 
wherever that of kneeling is not expressly prescribed, to wit : 
in all parts, including the ante-communion and post-commu- 
nion, except the confession, and the prayer immediately pre- 
ceding the prayer of consecration. 

Secondly, with regard to the people, the Bishops are of the 
opinion that they should observe the kneeling posture during 
all the prayers and other acts of devotion, except the Gloria in 
ewcelsis, when standing is required by the rubric, and except, 
also, during the allowed portion of the Hymns in metre, when 
the analogy of our services requires the same posture. The 
same analogy, as well as fitness of posture for the succeeding 
private devotions, which are required alike by propriety and 
godly custom, supposes kneeling as the posture in which to re- 
ceive the final blessing. 

Analogy, also, and the expression at the close of the shorter 
exhortation immediately preceding the confession, as well as 
the rubric before the confession, which suppose the posture of 
kneeling to be iJiere assumed, indicate that that exhortation, 
and the longer one immediately preceding, should be heard by 
the people standing. 

The postures, therefore, proDer to be observed by the peo- 
ple, during the Communion office, the Bishops believe to be as 
follows : 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 149 

Kneeling during the whole of the ante-communion, except 
the epistle, which is to be heard in the usual posture for hear- 
ing the Scriptures, and the gospel, which is ordered to be heard 
standing. 

The sentences of the offertory to be heard sitting, as the most 
favorable posture for handing alms, etc., to the person col- 
lecting. 

Kneeling to be observed during the prayer for the Church 
militant. 

Standing during the exhortations. 

Kneeling to be then resumed, and continued until after the 
prayer of consecration. 

Standing at the singing of the hymn. 

Kneeling, when receiving the elements, and during the post- 
communion, or that part of the service which succeeds the de- 
livering and receiving of the elements, except the Gloria in ex- 
celsis, which is to be said or sung standing. After which the 
congregation should again kneel to receive the blessing. 

The House of Bishops are gratified at the opportunity afford- 
ed them by the above noticed request of ths House of Clerical 
and Lay Deputies, of contributing to what they hope will be 
perfect uniformity in all our churches in the matter now before 
them. 

A "declaration," correcting an error in one of 
the offices of the Church contained in the Book of 
Common Prayer, was adopted by the Bishops, as 
follows : 

There occurring in the office for receiving into the congrega- 
tion children already baptized, according to the form of private 
baptism, the following question to the Sponsors, and answer 
to be made by them, viz, : 

Minister. Wilt thou be baptized in this faith ? 

Ans. That is my desire. 
Which mistake doubtless arose from inadvertency, the House 
of Bishops hereby declare that it should be regarded as on the 
same footing with typographical errors, and should be correct- 
ed in future editions of the Prayer Book. 



150 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Two clianges in the rubrics of the Prayer Book 
were adopted for final action at the following Con- 
vention, the iiiSt being a proposal " to alter the Ru- 
bric before the ' Selections of Psalms,' so as to 
read, ' The following selections of Psalms, or any 
one or more Psalms, or any portions of the 119th 
Psalm in the Psalter, may be used instead of the 
Psalms for the day, at the discretion of the minis- 
ter.' And that the fourth paragraph of the ' Or- 
der how the Psalter is appointed to be read ' be 
erased.' " And the second, "to alter the last Eu- 
bric before the Communion Service by substituting 
the word ' right ' for the word ' north. "^ " 

It was also " proposed for adoption at the next 
General Convention, to insert the following Rubric 
after the ' Prayer to be used at the Meetings of 
Convention :' 

" During the period of the session of any General or Diocesan 
Convention, the above prayer may be used by all congregations 
of this Church, or of the Diocese concerned ; the clause ' here 
assembled in thy name and presence ' being changed to * now 
assembled in thy name and presence ;' and the clause, ' govern 
us in our present work ' to ' govern them in their present 
work.' 

And it was further proposed for adoption at the 
next General Convention to insert the said Prayer 
and Rubric at the end of the Prayers upon several 
occasions to be used before the two final prayers of 
morning and evening service." 

The whole body of the Canons was revised, and 
set forth with alterations and amendments. 

The Selections from the Psahns in metre, with 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUIiCH. 151 

the Hymns still bound with the Book of Common 
Prayer, were set forth, with the following " ratifi- 
cation :" 

Tliis Book of Psalms in Metre, selected from the Psalms of 
David, with Hymns, is set forth and allowed to be sung in all 
Congregations of the said Church, before and after Morning 
and Evening Prayer, and also before and after Sermons, at the 
discretion of the minister. 

And it shall be the duty of every minister of any Church, 
either by standing directions, or from time to time, to appoint 
the portions of Psalms which are to be sung. 

And further, it shall be the duty of every minister, with 
such assistance as he can obtain from persons skilled in music, 
to give order concerning the tunes to be sung at any time in 
his Church. And especially, it shall be his duty to suppress 
all light and unseemly music, and all indecency and irreve- 
rence in the performance, by which vain and ungodly persons 
profane the service of the Sanctuary. 

Alabama and Michigan were admitted into union 
with the Convention. 

A proposed amendment of Article 2 of the Con- 
stitution was indefinitely postponed. It was pro- 
posed to amend the article as follows : 

Article II. 

The Church in each State shall be entitled to a representa- 
tion of both the Clergy and the Laity, which representation 
shall consist of two or more deputies, not exceeding ten of each 
order, chosen by the Convention of the State, according to the 
follomng ratio : Every Diocese shall he entitled to one Clerical 
and one Lay Deputy ; and to one additional Clerical Deputy 
for every eight Clergymen actually residing in such Diocese ; and 
to one additional Lay Deputy for every twelve, parishes belonging 
to the Convention of the same ; and in all questions, when re- 
quired by the Clerical and Lay representation from any State, 
the derision shall he hy orders ; and a majority of each order 



152 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

shall he necessary to constitute a vote of the House. If the Con- 
vention of any State should neglect, or decline to appoint, etc. 

A French translation of the Prayer Book was ap- 
proved and made the " Standard." A canon on 
Episcopal resignations was adopted. 

A special canon, authorizing the formation of a 
South-western diocese, consisting of the dioceses of 
Mississippi and Alabama, with the clergy and 
churches of Louisiana, was passed by both Houses. 
Nearly six hundred clergymen are reported as min- 
istering at the altars of the Church, and the Jour- 
nal, for the first time, ha^ a set of tables, giving ab- 
stracts of the diocesan reports. 



OF THE AMEKICAN CHURCH. 153 



THE CONYEIS'TION OF 1835. 

The Convention of 1835, which met in St. 
Peter's Church, Philadelphia, from August 19th to 
September 1st, inclusive, ranks among the most im- 
portant of the Conventions, whether we regard the 
far-sighted wisdom of its enactments or the broad 
principles underlying every marked decision to 
which it arrived. Fourteen bishops and one hun- 
dred and fourteen deputies, sixty-nine clerical and 
fifty-one lay, representing twenty-one dioceses (all, 
in fact, but one, Mississippi), composed this body. 
The Rev. Dr. Wyatt was re-elected President, and 
the Rev. Dr. Anthon, Secretary of the House of 
Deputies. The venerable Bishop White presided 
in the House of Bishops. Illinois, with the Rt. 
Rev. Philander Chase, D.D., as its Bishop, was re- 
ceived into union. Louisiana and Indiana, apply^ 
ing for the same, were refused, in neither case hav^ 
ing a sufficient number of clergy or churches tQ 
warrant a diocesan organization. The Constitution 
of the Board of Missions was establishedj making 
every baptized member of the Church a n^ember of 
its missionary organization. Provision was made 
for Missionary Bishops, and for the division of dio- 
ceses. Rev. Dr. Kemper was elected Missionary 
Bishop of the Korth-west, and Dr. Hawks for the 
South-west. A German version of the Prayer Book 



154 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

was authorized. The Eev. Dr. Hawks was ap- 
pointed conservator of the historical documents of 
the Church, and his personal gift of a large and val- 
uable collection of illustrative matter of this nature 
is placed on record. The discontinuance of the use 
of the Collect and Lord's Prayer before the sermon 
was recommended, and the people were advised to 
say with, instead of after the minister, the Confes- 
sion. The Committee of the Bishops (Griswold, 
Brownell, and Otey), who made this recommenda- 
tion, added the following expression of their 
opinion : 

It is also the opinion of your Committee that, in those parts 
of the Liturgy in which the minister and people unite in say- 
ing the whole, as in the Confessions, the Creeds, the Lord's 
Prayer, the Gloria in excelsis, the Trisagion, and the last 
Prayer for Ash-Wednesday, the word "Amen" should be 
printed in Roman letters, and the minister unite with the peo- 
ple in saying it ; and that in all cases where the word * 'Amen" 
is the response of the people to what the minister alone says, 
it shoald be printed in italics. 

An effort to secure the republication of the jour- 
nals of the early Conventions was inaugurated, and 
a committee appointed to procure the publication 
of an edition of the Bible according to the " Stand- 
ard." A plan of a General Education Society was 
discussed, and its further consideration postponed. 
The details of the plan are spread upon the pages 
of the appendix of the Journal. Provision was 
made for the division of the larger dioceses, and 
an alteration of the second article of the Constitu- 
tion proposed for subsequent approval. There was 
also provision made for the consecration of foreign 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 155 

missionary bishops, when such a measure should be 
deemed expedient. Measures were taken for se- 
curing a version of the Prayer Book in German. 
The proposal of the last General Convention to alter 
the rubric before " The Selection of Psalms " was 
not adopted, but the change in the rubric before 
the Communion Office, substituting the word 
'^righV^ for ''north,'''' was made by concurrent vote. 
Seven hundred and sixty-three clergymen were re- 
ported, and the closing act of the House of Bisliops 
was to place on its minutes a record of grateful ac- 
knowledgment of the " presence and counsel of the 
venerable presiding Bishop," then eighty-four years 
old, and in the forty-ninth year of his Episcopate. 



15G THE GENEKAL CONVENTION 



THE CONYEISTTION OF 1838. 

Bishop Griswold presided in the House of Bish- 
ops at the Convention which met in St. Peter's 
Church, Philadelphia, from September 6th to 
September 17th, inclusive, 1838. The father of 
the American Episcopacy in the English line, 
the venerable William White, D.D., Bishop of 
Pennsylvania, had passed away during the inter- 
val between this and the last Convention. Sixteen 
bishops and one hundred and thirty-live deputies, 
seventy-live clerical and sixty lay, composed the 
Convention, which continued in session for eleven 
days. Three dioceses, Indiana, Florida, and Louis- 
iana were admitted. Bishop Polk was nominated 
to the Missionary Bishopric of the South-west. The 
division of the diocese of New- York was ratified, 
the constitutional amendment providing for the 
division of dioceses, proposed at the last Convention, 
having been formally approved. The words, " Un- 
less the Table gives some day in the month of 
March for it, for in that case the day given by the 
Table is the right day," were added to the note on 
the Table of Movable Feasts, notice of the pro- 
posed addition liaving been made known as the . 
canons required. The republication of the journals 
of previous conventions with ^ the Pastoral Letters 
was again urged. The diocese of ]S"ew-Hampshire 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 157 

had permission to withdraw from the Eastern dio- 
cese, A proposition to make the time of meeting 
of General Convention once in seven years was laid 
on the table. A proposed alteration of Article 6 of 
the Constitution, in relation to the mode of trying 
clergymen, was laid over for consideration at the 
next meeting. The whole subject of ecclesiastical 
trials was referred to a joint committee. Both 
Houses placed on record expressions of their grate- 
ful memory of the long and faithful services, the 
piety, purity, and moderation of the late Bishop 
White. The necessity of the requirement of letters 
dimissory from clergymen coming from abroad 
was brought before the House of Bishops, and the 
presiding bishop instructed to enter into correspond- 
ence with the Archbishops of Canterbury and 
Armagh, the Prunus of Scotland, and the Colonial 
Bishops, for the purpose of securing concert of 
action in this matter. The Convention adopted as 
a " standard " a stereotyped edition of the Prayer 
Book published in Philadelphia. It also enacted 
the following rules to be observed in printing all 
future editions of the Book of Common Prayer, 
namely : 

I. The words, "Let us pray/' to be always printed in the 
same type with the prayers. 

II. The word "Amen," to be printed in the Roman charac- 
ter, besides in the cases mentioned in the action of +he House 
of Bishops, as recorded in the minutes of the proceedings of 
that House, on the 29th of August, 1835, in the following cases, 
namely : 

1. After the baptismal act, " N. I baptize thee," etc., in each 
of the baptismal services. 



168 THE GENERAL CONVENTION- 

2. After the sentence in the marriage service, commencing, 
•* With this ring," etc. 

3. After the sentence in the same service, commencing, "For 
as much as M. and N.," etc. 

4. After the sentence pronounced by the Bishop, at the lay- 
ing on of hands in the ordination of Deacons and Priests. 

It being understood by this Convention, that the word 
"Amen," in the above cases, is not properly a response, but 
proper to be used only by the party required to say the words 
to which it is attached. 

III. The rubric in the Institution Office, commencing with 
the words, " If any objection," etc., to be printed in three para- 
graphs, as follows : 

" If any objection," etc., to the word " service." 

" No objection," etc., to the word " institution." 

" And then shall," etc., to the end. 

And whereas, there is a difference in different editions of the 
Prayer Book, in the mode of printing the word Amen, after the 
words used by the Bishop at the laying on of hands in confirm- 
ation, therefore, 

JResohed, As the sense of this Convention, that in this case 
the word "Amen" should be printed in the Italic character, 
as being properly a response. 

The Eev. Drs. S. F. Jarvis and F. L. Hawks 
were appointed Historiograpliers, and the report of 
the latter, detailing his successful efforts in England 
in securing transcripts of important documents from 
the archives at Lambeth, Fulham, and the office of 
the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign 
Farts, is placed in the appendix. Canons requiring 
a delay of six months before the admission of minis- 
ters of the denominations, and prohibiting a candi- 
date for orders from accepting the office of deputy 
to Convention, were passed. Nine hundred and 
fifty-one clergy were reported in the clergy list. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 159 



CONVENTION OF 1841. 

In 1841 the Convention met in New- York, in 
St. Paul's Chapel, and continued in session from 
October 6th to October 19th, inclusive. The 
House of Bishops contained twenty-one members. 
Twenty-seven dioceses were represented. One 
hundred and thirty-six deputies were in attendance, 
seventy-nine clerical and fifty-seven lay. Bishop 
Griswold presided in the House of Bishops ; the 
Rev. Dr. Wyatt was re-elected President, and the 
Rev. Dr. Anthon, Secretary of the House of De- 
puties. The latter shortly gave place to the Rev. 
Dr. William Cooper Mead. Western New-Yoi-k 
sent its first deputation, and Missouri w^as admit- 
ted into union. At this session Bishop Lee, of 
Delaware, received consecration, and the Rev. Dr. 
John A. Yaughan was elected to the foreign Mis- 
sionary Bishopric of Cape Palmas, and the Rev. Dr. 
Nicholas H. Cobbs to the Episcopate of Texas. 
Neither appointment was consummated. Canons 
respecting absentee clergymen, the election of a 
Missionary Bishop to a diocesan Episcopate, the 
trial of Bishops, foreign clergymen desiring to 
officiate in our church, and a Treasurer, were enact- 
ed. The duty of providing more ample free sit- 
tings, in view of the rapid increase of the popula- 
tion of the country, was urged upon the Church by 



160 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

concurrent vote. For the first time a memorial 
was presented opposing the admission of two of tlie 
clerical deputies from I^ew-York to seats, in con- 
sequence of alleged informalities attending the 
election ; but this claim was disallowed, as was also 
some objection urged against the deputies from Del- 
aware. The question of requiring one year's proba- 
tion, or instead, six months, on the part of candidates 
for orders, who had been "ministers, or licentiates 
or students of theology, among other religious de- 
nominations," occasioned no little discussion, and 
gave rise to a majority and minority report from 
the Committee on Canons, the former advocating 
the longer, and the latter the shorter term. We 
append extracts from each : 

The existing state and circumstances of that branch of the 
Church Catholic to which we belong, in connection with the 
present religious condition of our country, your committee be- 
lieve, with very many of their brethren, the Bishops, the 
clergy, and the laity, imperatively require increasing careful- 
ness and caution in the admission of persons to her ministry, 
if its purity is to be maintained, and its greater efficiency se- 
cured. And while they think such carefulness and caution 
essential in the case of candidates for the sacred office, born, 
nurtured, and educated in the bosom of the Church, they can 
not but regard the same as especially and urgently demanded 
in the case of those aspiring to her ministry, who, up to a com- 
paratively recent period, have belonged to religious denomina- 
tions whose attitude and action are adverse to our doctrines, 
discipline and worship, and who have, for a longer or shorter 
period, officiated as ministers among such denominations. 
One year, they believe, can not be reasonably regarded as an 
unnecessary term of probation, nor more than requisite to en- 
able the constituted authorities of the Church to obtain such 
knowledge of the character and conduct, the spirit, temper, 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 161 

and qualifications of such candidates, and their general " apt- 
ness and meetness to exercise the ministry duly to the honor of 
God and the edifying of the Church," as shall secure her from 
the intrusion of unworthy, pragmatical, or inefficient persons. 
And less time, they humbly conceive, would scarcely be suffi- 
cient to afford an opportunity to such candidates themselves, to 
form a right estimate of the motives and principles which induce 
an ecclesiastical change of such vital importance, and lead them 
to seek admission into the ministry of a Church, whose pecu- 
liar claims they may have hitherto, and all their lives long, 
been taught to repudiate, and whose distinctive principles and 
mode of worship they may have more or less regarded, and per- 
haps in common with a majority of those whom they abandon, 
stigmatized as serious and dangerous errors. 

The minority of the Committee, the Rev. Drs. 
George Burgess and Francis H. Cuming, and Mr. 
Archer Gifford, expressed themselves 

constrained to oppose the proposed change in the Canon, as it 
involves a great change in the policy which has been hitherto 
observed, both in the Church of England and in this Church, 
witli regard to the admission of separatists from its com- 
munion. That policy, in their judgment, has always been, to 
render the way of return easy and honorable. It has raised no 
unnef essary obstacle, required no painful humiliation ; but 
opened, to their widest extent, every gate of the sanctuary. It 
was founded on the rule that, as we have freely received, so 
?hall we freely give, and on the principle that secondary con- 
siderations, however serious, should never outweigh so vast a 
blessing as unity. To this policy the Church has probably 
owed many of its best servants, who have come in from the 
ranks of dissent ; such, in England, as Reynolds and Tillotson, 
Seeker and Butler ; such, in America, as many of its most 
valued clergy, and more than one of its most revered prelates. 
The undersigned can not think that it is wise to change this 
policy now, when an immense harvest calls for laborers, and 
multitudes without the Church need little more than an invita- 
tion and an opportunity to enter. A delay of six months is suffi- 
cient security again.st t^udden, fickle, or premature action. To 



162 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

require a longer delay, without any reference to qualifications, 
would seem to declare that the Church wished to impose a 
penance or penalty upon this class of candidates, or else, that 
she would gladly exclude them always. And if it be import- 
ant that they who preach the Gospel, should preach it under 
the Apostolic commission, the undersigned can not conceive 
how that commission can be withheld systematically for any 
period, not absolutely necessary for the safety of the Church ; 
withheld from a whole class of men, as such, without the 
slightest regard to their individual qualifications, except at the 
hazard of incurring a responsibility so awfully serious, that 
they are unwilling to share it.* 

Bishop Polk was nominated by the House of 
Bishops to the Episcopate of Louisiana, agreeably 
to the request of that diocese that the General Con- 
vention should elect its bishop ; in which action of the 
Bishops, the House of Deputies unanimously con- 
curred. The spiritual condition of the Jews receiv- 
ed attention, and the Board of Missions were urged 
" to mature and adopt such measures as maybe pro- 
per for bringing them to the unity of the faith, the 
bosom of the Church of God, and the saving know- 
ledge of the Messiah." It was proposed for final 
action at the next Convention " to erase the words 
' Associated Hector,' and also the word ' State,' 
wherever they occur in former editions of the In- 
stitution office." It was also proposed for similar 
final action to add a tenth article to the Consti- 
tution respecting the consecration of Bishops for 
foreign countries. The cause of Christian educa- 
tion in connection with the institutions of the Church 
was recommended to the various dioceses. Majority 

* Journal of Convention, 1841, pp. 67-70. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 163 

and minority reports on the subject of marriages 
prohibited by the law of God — the former (Bishops 
Griswold and Brownell) adverse to legislation ; the 
latter (Bp. II. U. Onderdonk) proposing the enact- 
ment of the English table of prohibition, and the 
penalty of suspension of from two to seven years of 
the officiating clergyman in cases of violation — were 
ordered to be entered on the minutes.* The intro- 
ductory volume of Ecclesiastical History prepared 
by the Rev. Dr. Samuel Farmar Jar vis, Historio- 
grapher, was approved and commended by the 
Bishops to the patronage of the Church. A registrar 
of the House of Bishops was appointed. Further 
efforts were reported for securing a republication 
of the journals of previous Conventions with the 
Canons and other documents. A committee was 
appointed to report a standard Prayer Book, and in- 
structed to restore certain words omitted in the In- 
stitution office. A proposed Canon " Of Deacons 
not licensed to Preach," was referred to the next Con- 
vention. The correspondence between the presid- 
ing Bishop, and the Archbishop of Canterbury and 
other foreign prelates, was reported to the House 
of Bishops, and the letters from abroad are cha- 
racterized as exhibiting " a spirit of truly Christian 
love," " and the readiest mind to co-operate with this 
Church in the maintenance of (Catholic unity, and 
of all necessary securities in reference to the passing 
and repassing of the clergy of the several churches 
for purposes of settlement." The immber of the 
clergy was now one thousand and iif ty-two. 
♦ Vide pp. 90, 91 of the Journal. 



164 THE GENEKAL CONVENTION 



THE C0NYENTI0:N" of 1844. 

The Convention of 1844 met in Philadelphia in 
St. Andrew's Church, and continued in session from 
the 2d to the 22d of October, inclusive. Twenty- 
four Bishops, with ninety-three clerical and eighty- 
four lay deputies, were in attendance. The Kev. 
Dr. Wyatt was re-elected President of the House of 
Deputies, and the Rev. Dr. Win. Cooper Mead, 
Secretary. Bishop Philander Chase was now pre- 
siding in the House of Bishops. In the words of 
the late Bishop Burgess, of Maine : " The recent 
resignation and the suspension of one Bishop,* the 
overhanging rumors which foreboded the trial and 
suspension of another; the personal discussion 
which arose out of the election to the Episcopate 
of Mississippi; the effort to procure a declaration 
against the doctrine of the Oxford Tracts ; the 
consecration of Bishops Chase of New-Hampshire^ 
Cobbs and Hawks ; J;he nomination of the Mission- 
ary Bishops, Freeman, Southgate, and Boone ; the 
renewed, but still unsuccessful attempt, to requi-re 
a longer delay before the ordination of ministers 
from other denominations ; the inquiry into the 
state of the General Theological Seminary ; and 
the adoption, not without controversy, of the prin- 

* The Rt. Rev. Henry U. Onderdonk, D.D., of Pennsylvania. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 165 

ciple of an unlearned Diaconate in certain cases ; 
all concurred to make this the busiest and the most 
exciting of all our General Conventions. In its 
legislation it was guided by the occasions which 
had, unhappily, sprung up, and its close was follow- 
ed by the most memorable of all the judicial pro- 
ceedings of any ecclesiastical tribunal in this land."* 
The eloquent defense made by the Rev. Dr. F. L. 
Hawks, the able and exhaustive debate on the Ox- 
ford movement, the adoption of the present Stan- 
dard Prayer Book, and the missionary spirit of the 
Convention, were noticeable features in this event- 
ful and lengthy session. The mover of a resolu- 
tion, " That the style and title of the Church repre- 
sented in this General Convention, is the ' Protes- 
tant Episcopal Church in the United States of 
America ' ; and that the practice of omitting its 
true appellation in printed documents, or of substi- 
tuting any other, is derogatory to the Protestant 
character of our Church, and of evil tendency," 
offered on the fourth day of the session, had leave 
to withdraw the same. Several presbyters laboring 
as missionaries in the Republic of Texas asked for 
" such Episcopal supervision as is enjoyed by mis- 
sionary districts in the United States." A careful 
collation of the English and American Prayer Books 
was suggested by the Diocese of South-Carolina to 
the Convention. The joint committee appointed 
to secure the republication of the Journals of the 
Convention reported the failure of their efforts, and 

* The trial of Bishop B. T. Onderdonk, of New-York. 



166 THE GENEKAL CONVENTION 

were discharged. The addition of Art. 10 to th» 
Constitution was ratified and confirmed. Tlie 
various steps of the action of the House of Deputies 
on the subject of the Oxford movement we give in 
full : 

Fifth Day's Session, Oct. 7. 

The following preamble and resolutions were offered : 

Wliereas, in the estimation of many ministers and members 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, seri- 
ous errors of doctrine have, within a few years, been intro- 
duced and extensively promulgated, by means of tracts, 
through the periodical press, and from the pulpit ; and where- 
as it is important, for the preservation of the peace and purity 
of the Church, that such errors, if existing, should be met, 
and as far as practicable removed, by the action of this Con- 
vention. 

Be it therefore Resohed, if the House of Bishops concur. 
That it is desirable to prepare and promulgate a clear and dis- 
tinct expression of the opinions entertained by this Convention 
respecting the Rule of Faith, the Justification of Man, the 
nature, design, and eJficacy of the Sacraments, and such other 
matters as, in view of the foregoing circumstances, may be 
deemed expedient by the House of Bishops. 

Be it further Resolved, That it is desirable that such expres- 
sion of opinion should originate in the House of Bishops, and 
receive the concurrent action of this House, and that the House 
of Bishops be requested to take action accordingly. 

The following was offered as an amendment to the above 
resolutions : 

Whereas differences of opinion on subjects deemed of grave 
importance exist among the members of the Protestant Episco- 
pal Church of the United States : and whereas it is believed 
that there is common ground upon which those thus differing 
may meet in harmony and love, as members of our branch of 
the One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church : 

Therefore, Resolved, That the House of Bishops be respect- 
fully requested to make a subject of their godly counsel and 
advice, in their Pastoral Letter, the great principles which dis- 



OF THE AMEKICAN CHUKCII. 167 

tinguish the Protestant Episcopal Church, on the one hand, 
from the corruptions of Rome ; and on the other, from the 
other errors of sectarianism. 

Pending the discussion on the above resolutions and amend- 
ment, the House adjourned. 

Seventh Bay's Session, Oct. 9. 

On motion, The House resumed the consideration of the 
resolutions and amendment, relating to the supposed intro- 
duction of errors of doctrine in the Church, and their promul- 
gation by means of tracts, etc. 

The following amendment to the amendment was offered : 

Whereas, The minds of many of the members of this Church 
throughout its union, are sorely grieved and perplexed, by the 
alleged introduction among them of serious errors in doctrine 
and practice, having their origin in certain writings, emanating 
chiefly from members of the University of Oxford in England ; 
and whereas, it is exceedingly desirable that the minds of 
such persons should be calmed, their anxieties allayed, and 
the Church disabused of the charge of holding, in her Articles 
and OflB.ces, doctrines and practices consistent with all the 
views and opinions expressed in said Oxford writings, and 
should thus be freed from a responsibility which does not 
properly belong to her : Therefore — 

Resolved, That the House of Bishops be respectfully request- 
ed to communicate with this House on this subject, and to take 
such order thereon, as the nature and magnitude of the evil 
alluded to may seem to them to require. 

The discussion of the said resolutions and amendments 
being suspended — 

* * * * * * * 

The House adjourned. 



Eighth Day's Session, Oct. 10. 

On motion. The House resumed the consideration of the 
resolutions and amendments, relating to the supposed intro- 
duction of errors of doctrine in the Church, and their promul- 
gatit)n by means of tracts, etc. 



168 THE GENERAL CONVENTION ^ 

Whereupon the following resolution was offered : 
Resolved, That this House will proceed at 12 o'clock M. this 
day, without further debate, to take the question by yeas and 
nays on the resolutions submitted, in relation to the differences 
of opinion existing- in the Church, and on the several amend- 
ments proposed thereto. 

To which resolution the following amendment was offered : 
BesoUed, That the consideration of the said resolutions and 
amendments be postponed, and made the special order of the 
day for to-morrow, at half -past 12 p.m. 

On motion. Ordered, That the said resolution and amend- 
ment be laid on the table. 

The discussion of the said resolutions and amendments 
being suspended — 

******* 

The House adjourned. 

Thirteenth Day's Session, Oct. 16. 

On motion, Ordered, That the special order of the day be 
suspended to take up the consideration of the resolutions and 
amendments, relating to the supposed introduction of errors 
of doctrine in the Church, and their promulgation by means of 
tracts, etc. 

The following substitute for the said resolutions and 
amendments was offered : 

Resolved, That the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies con- 
sider the Liturgy, Offices and Articles of the Church sufficient 
exponents of her sense of the essential doctrines of Holy Scrip- 
ture ; and that the Canons of the Church afford ample means 
of discipline and correction for all who depart from her stan- 
dards ; and further, that the General Convention is not a suit- 
able tribunal for the trial and censure of, and that the Church 
is not responsible for, the errors of individuals, whether they 
are members of this Church or otherwise. 

Whereupon, the following resolution was offered : 

Resolved, That the whole subject under discussion, and the 
various amendments and substitute, be referred to a select 
committee of five, with instructions to report thereon imme- 
diately. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 169 

The President put tlie question on agreeing to tlie above 
resolution, and it was decided in tlie negative. 

The consideration of the proposed substitute being sus- 
pended. 

On motion, Ordered, That when this House adjourns, it ad- 
journs to meet at 7 p.m. 

The House adjourned. 

Thirteenth Day's Session. 

7 o'clock P.M. 
******* 

On motion, the House resumed the consideration of the sub- 
stitute ofiered this morning. 

On motion, Ordered, That unless the question on the substi- 
tute be taken earlier, it shall be taken without further debate 
at half-past nine o'clock. 

The hour named having arrived, the President put the ques- 
tion on agreeing to the said substitute, and it was decided in 
the negative. 

On the demand of the clerical and lay representation from 
Ohio, the vote of each Order was taken by dioceses, as follows : 

Clergy. — Twenty-seven dioceses represented. For the aflB.r- 
mative, 15. For the negative, 8. Divided, 4. 

Laity. — Twenty-three dioceses represented. For the affir- 
mative, 11. For the negative, 9. Divided, 3. 

The question was then taken on the following amendment, 
offered on the 9th instant : 

' ' Whereas, The minds of many of the members of this 
Church throughout its union are sorely grieved and perplexed, 
by the alleged introduction among them of serious errors in 
doctrine and practice, having their origin in certain writings 
emanating chiefly from members of the University of Oxford 
in England ; and whereas, it is exceedingly desirable that the 
minds of such persons should be calmed, their anxieties allay- 
ed, and the Church disabused of the charge of holding in her 
Articles and Offices, doctrines and practices consistent with all 
the views and opinions expressed in said Oxford writings, and 
should thus be freed from a responsibility which does not 
properly belong to her : Therefore — 



170 THE GENEKAL CONVENTION 

" Resolved, That the House of Bisliops be respectfully re- 
quested to communicate with this House on this subject, and 
to take such order thereon, as the nature and magnitude of the 
evil alluded to may seem to them to require." 

The President put the question on agreeing to the said 
amendment, and it was decided in the negative. 

On the demand of the clerical and lay representation from 
Maryland, the vote of each Order was taken by dioceses, as 
follows : 

Clergy. — Twenty-seven dioceses represented. For the affir- 
mative, 8. For the negative, 15. Divided, 4. 

Laity. — Twenty-three dioceses represented. For the affir- 
mative, 11. For the negative, 11. Divided, 1. 

The amendment offered on the 7th instant was thereupon 
withdrawn by the mover. 

On motion, Resolved, That the House do reconsider the 
substitute offered this morning. 

A division of the said substitute was then requested, and 
the question was taken on the first clause of the said sub- 
stitute, as follows : 

" Resolved, That the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies 
consider the Liturgy, Offices, and Articles of the Church suf- 
ficient exponents of her sense of the essential doctrines of 
Holy Scripture ; and that the Canons of the Church afford 
ample means of discipline and correction for all who depart 
from her standards." 

The President put the question on agreeing to the above 
clause, and it was decided in the affirmative. 

The question was then taken on the last clause of the said 
substitute, as follows : 

" And further, that the General Convention is not a suitable 
tribunal for the trial and censure of, and that the Church is not 
responsible for, the errors of individuals, whether they are 
members of this Church or otherwise. " 

The President put the question on agreeing to the said 
clause, and it was decided in the affirmative. 

On the demand of the clerical and lay representation from 
Ohio, the vote of each Order was taken by dioceses, as follows : 

Clergy. — Twenty-seven dioceses represented. For the af- 
firmative, 25. For the negative, 2. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 171 

Laity. — Twenty-two dioceses represented. For the affir- 
mative, 18. For the negative, 3. Divided, 1. 
The House adjourned. 

The long and exciting discussion respecting the 
consecration of the Bishop-elect of Mississippi, 
terminated by the unanimous adoption of the fol- 
lowing resolutions : 

Resolved, That, in the opinion of this House, all proceedings 
respecting the consecration of the Rev. Francis L. Hawks, 
D.D., ought to be suspended, until a future Convention of 
the Diocese of Mississippi shall declare their sense of the sub- 
ject. 

Resolved, That all the documents now before this House, 
relating to the same, be delivered to the deputies from Mis- 
sissippi, to be laid before the Convention of the Diocese of 
Mississippi. 

The House of Bishops, in refusing to concur with 
the House of Deputies in amending the Canon re- 
quiring six months' probation from ministers of 
other religious bodies seeking Holy Orders, so that 
the term of probation should be twelve months, ac- 
companied their refusal by the following expression 
of the reasons influencing their decision : 

"1. In practice, no ill consequences have as yet resulted 
from the operation of the Canon as it now stands. 

"2. The provisions of the Canon do not restrict the Bishops 
from requiring the candidate to undergo a longer probation 
than six months, if it shall be deemed expedient or necessary. 

"3. It is believed that the proposed amendment, if adopted, 
will operate injuriously, in the exclusion of many worthy men 
from the ministry of the Church. 

"4. It is respectfully submitted, that inasmuch as many 
works have been published by the Bishops and other minis- 



172 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

ters of this Church., setting forth the claims of Episcopacy to 
the authority of Holy Scripture and to primitive practice, and 
containing urgent warnings against the sin of schism, it is not 
deemed consistent with the principles of this Church, to op- 
pose further obstacles to the reception of men to its ministry, 
than the necessary guards which prudence, regulated by a 
sound faith and wholesome experience, may dictate." 

Expressions of respect to the memory of the late 
Presiding Bishop (Griswold) and the Bishop of 
Virginia (Moore) were adopted. The subject of 
versions of the Prayer Book in French, German, 
"Welsh, and Hebrew received the attention of the 
Convention, and a resolution was passed recom- 
mending 

publishers of the Prayer Book, throughout the Union, to 
print that portion which embraces the daily Services of the 
Church, on paper of such quality as will be proportioned to 
the greater use and wear to which that portion is exposed. 

In pursuance of the following report of the 
Committee on Expenses — 

The expenses attendant upon the use of a city Church for 
the purposes of the General Convention, the nature and charac- 
ter of the assemblies there gathered, and the exciting scenes 
of popular debates, render, in the judgment of your Committee, 
the House of God an inappropriate place for our sittings. In 
any city in which the General Convention is likely to be held, 
there may be found places less expensive, and better suited to 
the purposes of the assembly, than the one in which we have 
now met ; and they therefore recommend, that the proper of- 
ficers of the Convention charged with the preparation for its 
sittings, take such order as shall prevent the like objections 
from recurring" — 

the accompanying resolution was adopted, and was 
concurred in by the House of Bishops : 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUllCJf. 173 

Eesohed, That tlie officers charged with providing a place 
of meeting for any future session of the General Convention 
be instructed to select some suitable building used for secular 
purposes, and not a Church edifice. 

The erasure of the words '' Associated Eector," 
and " State," from the Institution Office, proposed 
at the last Convention, was adopted. An important 
precedent was established in connection with the 
discussion of the signing of Dr. Hawks' testimo- 
nials, as follows : 

Previous to the vote being taken, several deputies asked 
to be excused from voting, and that their reasons therefor 
might be entered on the Journal. 

The following resolution was offered : 

Mesohed, That the several deputies asking to be excused 
from voting on this question, be excused ; and that leave be 
granted them to enter their reasons therefor on the Journal, 

A division of the said resolution was asked for, and that 
the question be taken on the first clause : 

" Resolved, That the several deputies asking to be excused 
from voting on this question, be excused." 

The President put the question on agreeing to this clause, 
and it was decided in the affirmative. 

The question was then taken on agreeing to the second 
clause of the said resolution : 

* ' And that leave be granted them to enter their reasons 
therefor on the Journal." 

The President put the question on agreeing to the said 
clause, and it was decided in the negative. 

Cape Palmas, and parts adjacent in Western 
Africa, were made a missionary see, and the Kev. 
Alexander Glennie, of South-Carolina, chosen to 
the episcopate thereof, and in view of this election 
a special ^' Form of Certificate of Assent and Elec- 



174 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

tion" was adopted for tliis and similar cases, as 
follows : 

We, whose names are underwritten, do hereby certify to the 

House of Bishops, that the Rev. having been 

duly nominated, by the House of Bishops, on the day 

of to the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, as 

a suitable person to be elected a Bishop of this Church, to ex- 
ercise Episcopal functions in or at — ,.a Missionary 

Station, designated by the House of Bishops, with the concur- 
rence of this House, for that purpose, according to the pro- 
visions of Canon VII. of 1844, entitled, "Of Foreign Missionary 
Bishops," has been elected by the said House of Clerical and 

Lay Deputies, a Bishop as aforesaid, on this day of 

. And we, the subscribers, do hereby severally 

signify our assent to the said nomination and election, humbly 
trusting that the Consecration of the said Bishop-elect will 
conduce to the edification and enlargement of the Church of 
Christ. 

Done at ■ in General Convention, this 

day of A.D. 

It was resolved by concurrent vote — 

That the Joint Committee on Canon Law be instructed to 
inquire and report to the next Convention, as to the expedi- 
ency of so altering the Constitution, as to reduce the number 
of deputies to be sent by each diocese to the General Conven- 
tion ; and also, that the intervals between the sessions of the 
Convention be more distant. 

The House of Deputies adjourned on the 18th 
day of the session, October 22d ; but the House of 
Bishops continued their meetings for four subsequent 
days, the 23d, 24:th, 30th, and adjourning on the 
31st of October, the last two days' session being 
held at the General Theological Seminary in New- 
York, where the Bishops had assembled in exercise 
of their visitatorial power. Among other matters 



OF THE AMEKICAN CHURCH. 175 

receiving attention specially of the House of Bishops 

is the following : 

The Committee [Mcllvaine, De Lancey, and Elliott], towliom 
were referred certain memorials from clergymen and laymen 
of sundry dioceses requesting an expression of opinion on tlie 
part of this House, respecting sundry alleged erroneous doc- 
trines and practices, which are represented as having gained a 
dangerous currency in the Church, and as being the cause of 
much perplexity and alarm, respectfully report that they 
know no way by which more satisfactorily to meet the wishes 
of the memorialists, than to refer them to the Pastoral Letter, 
which has just been adopted, and which will soon go forth to 
the several parishes of this Church. 

To this we add with regret, as a part of the 
Convention history, the following record ; premis- 
ing that if unfeigned sorrow for the sin, and a 
humble submission to the sentence of the Church, 
through a long term of years, coupled Avith a peni- 
tent and trustful death, could blot out this page 
from the Church's history as fully as they secured 
in after years the remission of the penalty thus 
enjoined, we might omit all reference to this sad 
story. 

The Committee* appointed upon the resignation of the Rt. 
Rev. H. U. Onderdonk, recommend the adoption of the follow - 
ing resolution: 

Whereas, the Right Reverend Henry Ustick Onderdonk, 
D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, has made known 
in writing to the House of Bishops his desire to resign his 
jurisdiction of the said diocese, with the reasons moving him 
thereto, and has tendered to this House his resignation of the 

* Consisting of Bishops Chase (President), Brownell, Meade, 
Ives, and llopkius. 



176 THE geis^J):kal convention 

said diocese; and whereas, the House of Bishops having made 
investigation of the said reasons, and of the facts and circum- 
stances of the case, deem it expedient to accept the said resig- 
nation : 

Therefore, Resolved, That the House of Bishops accept the 
resignation of the Episcopal Jurisdiction of tlie Diocese of 
Pennsylvania, made by the Right Reverend Henry Ustick 
Onderdonk, D.D. , and hereby declare, that from and after this 
twenty- first day of October, in the year of our Lord one thou- 
sand eight hundred and forty-four, he is no longer Bishop of 
the said diocese. 

And further, Resolved, That the foregoing resolution be 
duly recorded on the Journal of this House ; and that informa- 
tion of the same be communicated to the House of Clerical 
and Lay Deputies. 

The documents connected with the case of the Right Reve- 
rend Henry Ustick Onderdonk, D.D., having been called up, 
the following preamble and resolution were proposed, consi- 
dered, and adopted: 

Whereas, this House has heard with pain and sorrow of 
heart, the communication addressed to it by the Right Rever- 
end Henry Ustick Onderdonk, D.D.; in which he acknowledges 
the habitual use of spirituous liquor as a remedy for disease, 
to a degree which has been the occasion of unfavorable impu- 
tations upon the Church, and brought upon him an evil report 
among men : 

And whereas this House, as well by the tenor of the com- 
munications of the said Right Reverend Henry Ustick Onder- 
donk, D.D., as by the investigation of the facts and circum- 
stances of his case, which have now been made, is well assured 
that the usefulness of the said Right Reverend Henry Ustick 
Onderdonk, D.D. , in the office and work of the ministry, has 
ceased, and that the reproach and injury which he has been 
the means of bringing upon the Church of Christ require the 
administration of discipline in the premises : 

And whereas, the said Right Reyerend Henry Ustick Onder- 
donk, D.D., has requested of this House such an act of disci- 
pline as in the judgment of the said House is proper. 



OF 'lllE AMERICAN CHURCH. 177 

Therefore, Besoked, That the Right Reverend Henry Ustick 
Onderdonk, D.D., having made to this House a written ac- 
knowledgment of his unworthiness, this House does now 
determine that he be suspended from his office, and that the 
Presiding Bishop, in the presence of this House, shall pro-, 
nounce the following Sentence, viz.; 

SENTENCE. 

The Right Reverend Henry Ustick Onderdonk, Doctor in 
Divinity, having acknowledged himself the cause of reproach 
and injury to the Church, and having submitted himself to the 
judgment of the House of Bishops, in General Convention 
assembled ; the said House does hereby adjudge that the said 
Henry Ustick Onderdonk, Doctor in Divinity, be suspended 
from all public exercise of the offices and functions of the 
sacred ministry, and in particular from all exercise whatso- 
ever of the office and work of a Bishop, in the Church of God; 
and does accordingly so suspend the said Henry Ustick Onder- 
donk, Doctor in Divinity, and declare him suspended, from 
and after this twenty-first day of October, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-four, from all 
public exercise of the office and functions of the sacred minis- 
try, and from all exercise whatsoever of the office and work of 
a Bishop, in the Church of God ; in the Name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

The Presiding Bishop then, in the presence of the Bishops, 
pronounced the above sentence. 

On motion of Bishop De Lancey, seconded by Bishop Whit- 
tingham. 

Resolved, That the documents connected with the case of 
the Right Reverend Henry Ustick Onderdonk, D.D., be placed 
on file. 

Among the results of the visitation of the Gene- 
ral Theological Seminary, was the adoption of the 
following resolutions ; 

2. Resolved, That the Bishops, as visitors, having visited 
the Seminary and inspected the same, do not find in apy of its 



178 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

interior arrangements any evidences that superstitious or 
Romish practices are allowed or encouraged in the institution. 
8. Resolved, That the Bishops deem the publication of the 
questions of the Bishops and the answers of the Professors * 
the most appropriate reply to the current rumors respecting 
the doctrinal teaching of the Seminary. 

The clergy list now contained twelve hundred 
and forty names^. 

* These questions and answers are printed in full in the 
appendix to the Journal. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUKCH. 179 



THE COIS'YENTION OF 1847. 

Twenty-five Bishops were in attendance at the 
Convention of 1847, which was in session from 
October 6th to 28th inchisive, in St. John's 
Chapel, in the city of New- York, with one hun- 
dred and three clerical and eighty-three lay 
deputies. The ofiicers of the last House of Depu- 
ties were re-elected. The place of meeting, agree- 
ably to the vote of the last Convention, was provided 
in the New- York University, but at the request of 
the Bishops the session was continued in the 
church where its opening services had been held. 
Wisconsin was admitted into union with the Con- 
vention. The Rev. Dr. Burgess's testimonials, as 
Bisliop of Maine, were passed. The diocese of 
Kew-York appealed for relief from its anomalous 
position with its Bishop under suspension, and the 
Bishop himself memorialized the Convention in his 
own behalf. 

Questions of canonical procedure growing out 
of the suspension of Bishop B. T. Onderdonk 
occupied the greater portion of the session. The 
Canons adopted at this session were, I. Of the 
Trustees of the General Theological Seminary ; 
II. Of the Remission or Modification of Judicial 
Sentences ; III. Of the Penalty of Suspension ; 



180 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

lY. Of the Performance of Episcopal Duties in 
vacant Dioceses, or in a Diocese the Bishop of 
which is under Disability ; Y. Of a Discretion to 
be allowed in the Calling, Trial and Examination of 
Deacons, in certain cases ; YI. Of Candidates for 
Orders. A Canon " Of Suffragan Bishops" was 
referred to a joint committee to report to the 
next Convention. The question as to the constitu- 
tionality of the appointment of supplemental 
deputies by the authority of the Diocesan Conven- 
tions, though not directly " by the Convention of 
the diocese," as Art. 2 of the Constitution requires, 
was decided in favor of the admission of those 
thus appointed. An effort to provide by Canon, 
that no diocese should have more than one repre- 
sentative in the House of Bishops, was rejected as 
in violation of Art. 3 of the Constitution, " under 
which the Bishops sit, not as representatives of 
dioceses, but by virtue of their office." In view 
of the annexation of Texas to the United States, 
the title of the Missionary Bishop (Freeman) 
elected under a resolution of the Convention of 
1844, and having jurisdiction in the republic of 
Texas, was changed to conform with the new civil 
relations of the district in question. 'A proposed 
change of Art. 1 of the Constitution, appointing 
the time of the meeting of General Convention 
on the first Wednesday in September, was submit- 
ted to the diocese for final action at the next Con- 
vention. The appointment of the Rev. James B. 
Britton, as assistant to Bishop Philander Chase, by 
the Convention of Illinois, failed to receive the 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. .181 

confirmation of the House of Deputies, the vote 
on signing his testimonials being as follows : 

Of tlie Clergy — 28 dioceses represented; Affirmative, 11 ; 
negative, 16 ; divided, 1. 

Of the Laity — 33 dioceses represented. Affirmative, 7 ; 
negative, 10 ; divided, 6. 

Bishop Kemper's election to the Diocesan Epis- 
copate of Wisconsin was confirmed. The number 
of the clergy had reached fourteen hundred and 
four. 



182 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



THE COXYEKTIOK OF 1850. 

The Convention of 1850 met in Christ Church, 
Cincinnati. Twentj-eight Bishops were present ; 
ninety-four clerical and seventy lay deputies 
made up the Lower House, officered by the Kev. 
Dr. Wyatt as President, with the Kev. Dr. M. A. 
De Wolfe Howe, in place of the Rev. Dr. Cooper 
Mead, who declined a re-election, as Secretary. 
The session was brief, only extending from the 
second to the sixteenth of October, inclusive. 
The condition of the Diocese of \New- York occu- 
pied much of the attention of the Convention. 
Canonical provision was made respecting the 
rights of Bishops on visitations. The election 
of Provisional Bishops; the resignation of Bish- 
ops; the position of Foreign Missionary Bish- 
ops; the renunciation of the ministry; and 
the case of a clergyman in one diocese, charge- 
able with misdemeanor in any other, were 
made subjects of canonical enactment. The pro- 
posed change in the time of meeting of the Con- 
vention was negatived. The Diocese of Texas was 
admitted into union with the Convention. A pro- 
posed amendment of Art. 5 of the Constitution, 
removing the territorial and numerical restrictions 
upon the division of dioceses, was submitted to 
the Convention for final action at the session of 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 183 

1853. The Canon "Of Suffragan Bishops," was 
indefinitely postponed. The lay delegation of 
New-Jersey had permission to " record their dissent 
to the passage of the Canon of ' Episcopal Resig- 
nations.' " The resignation of the Rt. Rev. 
Horatio Southgate "as Missionary Bishop to the 
Dominions and Dependencies of the Sultan of 
Turkey," was " received, accepted, and recorded" 
by the House of Bishops. The first volume of the 
Ecclesiastical History prepared by the Historio- 
grapher was commended to the patronage of the 
Church. It was 

Besohed, That tlie constantly enlarging field of missionary 
work, diocesan, domestic and foreign, presented before the 
Church, and the clear indications of God's good will toward 
the work itself, can be rightly met only by an enlarged liberal- 
ity on the part of the Church generally, and a spirit of greater 
self-denial, and more single devotedness on the part of the 
various orders of the ministry. 

The Rev. Dr. John Payne was elected Mis- 
sionary Bishop at Cape Palmas, and parts adjacent, 
West Africa. In the House of Bishops, a com- 
mittee was appointed to consider and report. 

Whether some plan can not be proposed, by which, consis- 
tently with the principles of our Reformed Communion, the 
service of intelligent and pious persons of both sexes may be 
secured to the Church to a greater extent, in the education of 
the young, the relief of the sick and destitute, the care of 
orphans and friendless emigrants, and the reformation of the 



A plan of a Court of Appeals was referred to 
the next Convention. The following resolutions 



184 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

were offered by Bishop De Lancey, and seconded by 
Bishop Otey : 

Resolved, That the following resolution lie on the table for 
consideration at the next Triennial General Convention: 

Resolved, The House of Clerical and Lay Deputies concurring, 
that a joint committee, to consist of five Bishops, and of five 
clergymen and five laymen, be appointed to report to the 
next Triennial General Convention, on the expediency of ar- 
ranging the dioceses according to geographical position into 
four Provinces, to be designated the Eastern, Northern, 
Southern, and Western Provinces, and to be united under a 
General Convention or Council of the Provinces, having ex- 
clusive control over the Prayer Book, Articles, OflSces, and 
Homilies of this Church, to be held once every twenty years. 

A memorial from clergy, vestries, and individu- 
als of the Diocese of Maryland, questioning the 
right of the Bishop to administer the Holy Com- 
munion when on his visitations, is placed in the 
appendix to the Journal. The Bishop's right, 
therein excepted to, was " affirmed by the judicial 
and legislative authorities of the Diocese ;" " re- 
affirmed by a vote of the House of Clerical and 
Lay Deputies," and provided for against all possible 
exceptions in a canon on the subject. 

]^o Pastoral was issued by this Convention, but 
the Convention was closed with an address from 
the Presiding Bishop, Philander Chase, which was 
delivered at midnight, in the midst of a terrific 
storm. Fifteen hundred and fifty-eight clergymen 
were reported. 



or THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 185 



THE CONYEKTIO:^r OF 1853. 

Thirty Bishops were in attendance on the Con- 
vention of 1853, which met in Trinity Church and 
St. John's Chapel, in the city of ]S"ew-York, and 
continued in session from the 5th to the 26th of 
October, inclusive. The House of Deputies num- 
bered two hundred members — one hundred and fif- 
teen clerical, and eighty-five lay, from thirty dio- 
ceses. The Rev. Dr. Wyatt, the President at eight 
successive Conventions, was succeeded by Dr. 
Creighton. Dr. Howe, who had been elected Secre- 
tary at Cincinnati on the retirement of Dr. Cooper 
Mead, was re-elected Secretary. The presence of a 
deputation from the venerable Society for the Pro- 
pagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and the 
attendance of the Bishop of Fredericton, were inte- 
resting and noticeable features of this Conven- 
tion. The abandonment of our Communion on the 
part of the Bishop of IN^orth-Carolina, received its 
fitting notice, and under a special canon, the exci- 
sion of this unworthy prelate was pronounced with 
due formality by the Presiding Bishop, sitting in 
his chair, in the presence of both Houses, after 
prayers, and in the following form : 

Whereas, Levi Silliman Ives, D.D., Bishop of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church in the United States, in the Diocese of North- 
Carolina, in a communication under his proper hand, bearing 



186 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

date, " Rome, December twenty-second, one thousand eight 
hundred and fifty-two," avowed his purpose to resign his 
" OflBlce as Bishop of North-Carolina," and further declared that 
he was " determined to make his submission to the Catholic" 
(meaning the Roman) "Church." 

And whereas, there is before the Bishops of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church in the United States, acting under the pro- 
vision of Canon First of 1853, satisfactory evidence that the 
said Levi Silliman Ives, D.D., has publicly renounced the com- 
muniou of the Church, and made his submission to the Bishop 
of Rome, as Universal Bishop of the Church of God, and Vicar 
of Christ upon earth, thus acknowledging these impious pre- 
tensions of that Bishop, thereby violating the vows solemnly 
made by him, the said Levi Silliman Ives, D.D., at his consecration 
as a Bishop of the Church of God, abandoning that portion of 
the flock of Christ committed to his oversight, and binding him- 
self under anathema to the antichristian doctrines and practices 
imposed by the Council of Trent upon all the Churches of the 
Roman Obedience. 

Be it therefore known, that on this fourteenth day of October, 
in the year of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and fifty- 
three, I, Thomas Church Brownell, D.D., LL.D., by Divine 
permission. Bishop of the Diocese of Connecticut, and Presid- 
ing Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United 
States, with the consent of a majority of the members of the 
House of Bishops, as hereinafter enumerated, to wit : — William 
Meade, D.D,, Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia, John Henry 
Hopkins, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Vermont, Benjamin Bos- 
worth Smith, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Kentucky, Charles 
Pettit M'llvaine, D.D., D.C.L., Bishop of the Diocese of Ohio, 
George Washington Doane, D.D., LL.D., Bishop of the Diocese 
of New-Jersey, James Hervey Otey, D.D., Bishop of the Dio- 
cese of Tennessee, Jackson Kemper, D.D., Missionary Bishop 
of Wisconsin and the North-west, Samuel Allen M'Coskry, 
D.D., D.C.L., Bishop of the Diocese of Michigan, William 
Heathcote De Lancey, D.D., LL.D., D.C.L,, Bishop of the Dio- 
cese of Western New- York, William Rollinson Whittingham, 
D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Maryland, Stephen Elliott, Jr., 
D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Georgia, Alfred Lee, D.D., 
Bishop of the Diocese of Delaware, John Johns, D.D,, Assist- 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 187 

ant Bishop of tlie Diocese of Virginia, Manton Eastburn, D.D., 
Bishop of the Dioce.-e of Massachusetts, Carlton Chase, D.D., 
Bishop of the Diocese of New-Hampshire, Nicholas Hamner 
Cobbs, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Alabama, Cicero Stephens 
Hawks, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Missouri, George Wash- 
ington Freeman, D.D., Missionary Bishop of the South-west, 
Alonzo Potter, D,D., LL.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsyl- 
vania, George Burgess, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Maine, 
George Upfold, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Indiana, William 
Mercer Green, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Mississippi, Fran- 
cis Huger Rutledge, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Florida, 
John Williams, D. D. , Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Con- 
necticut, Henry John Whitehouse, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese 
of Illinois, and Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, D.D., D.C.L., 
Provisional Bishop of the Diocese of New-York, and in the 
terms of the Canon in such case made and provided, do pro- 
nounce the said Levi Silliman Ives, D.D., ipso facto deposed to 
all intents and purposes from the Ofl&ce of a Bishop in the 
Church of God, and from all the rights, privileges, powers and 
dignities thereunto pertaining. 

In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost. — Amen ! 

Thomas Church Brownell, 

Bishop of the Diocese of Connecticut, and Presiding Bishop. 

As the Presiding Bishop pronounced the closing 
words, he rose from his chair, " and all the people 
said Amen." 

Besides the Canon, ^' Of the Abandonment of the 
Communion of the Church by any Bishop, Priest, 
or Deacon," the following Canons were adopted : 
Of Bishops absent from tlieir Dioceses, because of 
sickness or other sufficient reason ; Of the Election 
and Institution of Ministers into Parishes and 
Churches ; Of Clerical Residence and Bemoval ; 
Of the officiating of Ministers of this Church, and 
of tlie formation of Parishes within the Parochial 



188 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Cures of other Clergymen ; Of the Abandonment 
of the Communion of this Church by a Presbyter 
or Deacon ; Of the Ordination of Deacons, etc. ; 
Of Kemoval of Communicants from one Parish to 
another ; Of Missionary Bishops within the United 
States ; Of a Eegistrar ; Of the Trustees of the 
Missionary Bishops' Fund ; Of the Expenses of the 
Convention ; Of the Mode of securing an Accurate 
Yiew of the State of the Church. The Diocese of 
Iowa was admitted into union with the Convention, 
and the application of California deferred, evidence 
being wanting that the diocese had acceded to the 
Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
the United States. A Missionary Bishop (the Et. 
Pev. Dr. Kip) was therefore appointed for this 
State, and one (the Pt. Pev. Dr. Scott) for Oregon. 
Bishop Atkinson was consecrated in the place of the 
deposed Ives, and South-Carolina received a new 
Bishop (Pt. Pev. Dr. Davis) at the same time. The 
"Memorial" presented by the Pev. Dr. Muhlen- 
berg and others, in favor of liturgical relaxation 
and church comprehension, resulted in the appoint- 
ment of a commission, having the consideration of 
these matters committed to them. As a part of the 
history of the Convention, we give the " Memorial " 
in full ; 

To the Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in Council 

assembled. 
Right Reverend Fathees : 

The undersigned, presbyters of the Church of which you 
have the oversight, venture to approach your venerable body 
with an expression of sentiment, which their estimate of your 
ofl&ce in relation to the times does not permit them to with- 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 189 

hold. In so doing, tliey have confidence in your readiness to 
appreciate their motives and their aims. The actual posture of 
our Church with reference to the great moral and social neces- 
sities of the day, presents to the minds of the undersigned a 
subject of grave and anxious thought. Did they suppose that 
this was confined to themselves, they would not feel warranted 
in submitting it to your attention ; but they believe it to be 
participated in by many of their brethren, who may not have 
seen the expediency of declaring their views, or at least a ma- 
ture season for such a course. 

The divided and distracted state of our American Protestant 
Christianity, the new and subtle forms of unbelief adapting 
themselves with fatal success to the spirit of the age, the con- 
solidated forces of Romanism bearing with renewed skill and 
activity against the Protestant faith, and as more or less the 
consequence of these, the utter ignorance of the Grospel among 
so large a portion of the lower classes of our population, mak- 
ing a heathen world in our midst, are among the considera- 
tions which induce your memorialists to present the inquiry 
whether the period has not arrived for the adoption of mea- 
sures, to meet these exigencies of the times, more compre- 
hensive than any yet provided for by our present ecclesiastical 
system : in other words, whether the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, with only her present canonical means and appliances, 
her fixed and invariable modes of public worship, and her tra- 
ditional customs and usages, is competent to the work of 
preaching and dispensing the Gospel to all sorts and conditions 
of men, and so adequate to do the work of the Lord in this land 
and in this age ? This question, your petitioners, for their 
own part, and in consonance with many thoughtful minds 
among us, believe must be answered in the negative. Their 
memorial proceeds on the assumption that our Church, confined 
to the exercise of her present system, is not suflBcient to the 
great purposes above mentioned — that a wider door must be 
opened for admission to the Gospel ministry than that through 
which her candidates for holy orders are now obliged to enter. 
Besides such candidates among her own members, it is believed 
that men can be found among the other bodies of Christians 
around us, who would gladly receive ordination at your hands, 
could they obtain it, without that entire surrender which 



190 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

would now be required of them, of all tlie liberty in public 
worsliip to which they have beeu accustomed — men, who could 
not bring themselves to conform in all particulars to our pre- 
scriptions and customs, but yet sound in the faith, and who, 
having the gifts of preachers and pastors, would be able minis- 
ters of the New Testament. With deference it is asked, ought 
such an accession to your means in executing your high com- 
mission, ' ' Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every 
creature," be refused, for the sake of conformity in matters 
recognized in the preface to the Book of Common Prayer, as 
nnessentials ? Dare we pray the Lord of the harvest to send 
forth laborers into the harvest, while we reject all laborers but 
those of one peculiar type ? The extension of orders to the 
class of men contemplated (with whatever safeguards, not in- 
fringing on evangelical freedom, which your wisdom might 
deem expedient), appears to your petitioners to be a subject 
supremely worthy of your deliberations. 

In addition to the prospect of the immediate good wliich 
would thus be opened, an important step would be taken to- 
wards the effecting of a Church unity in the Protestant Chris- 
tendom of our land. To become a central bond of union 
among Christians, who, though differing in name, yet hold to 
the one Faith, the one Lord, and the one Baptism, and who 
need only such a bond to be drawn together in closer and more 
primitive fellowship, is here believed to be the peculiar pro- 
vince and high privilege of your venerable body as a College 
of Catholic and Apostolic Bishops as such. 

This leads your petitioners to declare the ultimate design of 
their memorial — which is to submit the practicability under 
your auspices, of some ecclesiastical system, broader and more 
comprehensive than that which you now administer, surround- 
ing and including the Protestant Episcopal Church as it now 
is, leaving that Church untouched, identical with that Church 
in all its great principles, yet providing for as much freedom 
in opinion, discipline and worship as is compatible with the 
essential Faith and order of the Gospel, To define and act 
upon such a system, it is believed, must sooner or later be the 
work of an American Catholic Episcopate. 

In justice to themselves on this occasion, your memorialists 
beg leave to remark that, although aware that the foregoing 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 191 

views are not confined to tlieir own small number, they have 
no reason to suppose that any other parties contemplate a pub- 
lic expression of them, like the present. Having therefore 
undertaken it, they trust that they have not laid themselves 
open to the charge of unwarranted intrusion. They find their 
warrant in the prayer now offered up by all our congregations, 
" that the comfortable Gospel of Christ may be truly preached, 
truly received, and truly followed, in all places to the breaking 
down of the kingdom of Sin, Satan, and Death." Convinced 
that, for the attainment of these blessed ends, there must be 
some greater concert of action among Protestant Christians, 
than any which yet exists, and believing that with you, Rt. 
Rev'd Fathers, it rests to take the first measures tending 
thereto, your petitioners could not do less than humbly submit 
their memorial, to such consideration as in your wisdom you 
may see fit to give it — Praying that it may not be dismissed 
without reference to a Commission, and assuring you. Right 
Reverend Fathers, of our dutiful veneration and esteem. 

We are, most respectfully, your Brethren and Servants in 
the Gospel of Christ, 

W. A. Muhlenberg, C. F. Cruse, Philip Berry, Edwin 
Harwood, G. T. Bedell, Henry Gregory, Alex. H. 
Vinton, M. A. De Wolfe Howe, S. H. Turner, S. R. 
Johnson, C. W. Andrews, and others. 

New-York, October lUh, 1853. 

Concurring in the main purport of the above memorial, and 
believing that the necessities of the times call for some special 
efforts to promote unity among Christians, and to enlarge for 
that and other great ends the efficiency of the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church, but not being able to adopt certain suggestions 
of this memorial, the undersigned most heartily join in the 
prayer that the subject may be referred to a commission of 
your venerable body. 

John Henry Hobart, A. Cleveland Coxe, Ed. Y. Higbee, 
Francis Vinton, Isaac G. Hubbard, and others. 



192 THE GENERAL <^pNVENTION 

The Convention of the Diocese of JS'ew-York 
liad instructed its deputies to the General Con- 
vention 

to bring before tliat body for consideration, the expediency 
of a law of the Church General for securing the proper 
administration of her discipline, without an undue or im- 
proper interference with the rights of her ministers and 
members as citizens to invoke the interposition of the civil 
courts. 

The joint committee, to which the whole sub- 
ject in question was referred, presented the follow- 
ing important report : 

That they have duly considered the same, and deem it in- 
expedient to legislate upon the subject. The great interest of 
the question, and the action of the Diocese of New- York upon 
it, which has been brought to the notice of the Committee, 
induce them to lay before the Convention some of the principal 
reasons which hare led to their conclusion. They find the 
action of the civil tribunals throughout our country, with 
scarcely an exception, in harmony with the lawful exercise of 
every power necessary to enforce the discipUne of the Church. 
They understand the established rule to be substantially this, 
that such courts will in no case interfere with the proceedings 
or sentences of ecclesiastical tribunals, except where a right 
to property or to some civil privileges is brought in question ; 
and then only to determine the existence of the jurisdiction 
over the party and subject ; to ascertain that the proceedings 
have been had upon reasonable notice to appear and defend, 
and are unsustained by fraud. To such restrictions the duty 
of every citizen binds him to submit, and the enlightened 
conscience of every Christian must yield them approbation. 
In the language of the judgment of the Court of Appeals of 
South Carolina, "the structure of our Government has, for 
the preservation of civil liberty, rescued the temporal institu- 
tions from religious interference. On the other hand, it has 
secured religious liberty from the invasion of the civil au- 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 193 

thority. Tlie judgments, therefore, of religious associations 
bearing upon their own members are not examinable here." 

Thus happily has the power of the State in our land moved 
in its appropriate sphere, and the discipline of a Church in its 
spiritual and peculiar office, been recognized and sustained. 
To adopt any measure which would appear to deny, or even 
doubt, the fidelity of the civil courts to these safe principles, 
would be unwise and injurious. It would be deemed an 
approach to the doctrine of papal supremacy, which demands 
the obedience of all authority to its sway, and seeks to control 
all civil rights as well as spiritual relations. That doctrine 
called forth the formidable strength of monarchs and States 
to promote the reformation of the faith; and the efforts which 
broke the chain upon the religious mind, severed also the 
fetters of universal allegiance to a usurped dominion. 

The Committee are well aware of the great evils, labor, 
and responsibility which an unrestricted and unsuccessful 
application to the civil tribunals may impose upon individuals 
in the discharge of their duty to the Church. The Committee 
see no means of averting or mitigating these evils, but at the 
risk of incurring others of a far deeper and more injurious 
nature. Those who may be unhappily so involved, must be 
left to the countenance and support of the Church ; and the 
example furnished by the Diocese of New-York warrants the 
belief that they will not be left alone in their labors or their 
burthens. 

The Committee recommend the adoption of the following 
resolution : 

Resolved, That it is inexpedient to pass any Canon, or take 
any order in relation to any application by accused ministers 
to the civil tribunals for interposition or redress. 

Kesolutions of respect for the memory of several 
of the clergy at the South who " counted not their 
lives dear unto themselves," but died at their posts 
after faithful service in the midst of the pestilence, 
were unanimously adopted. The presence of re- 
presentatives of the venerable Society for the Pro- 
pagation of the Gospel, and the Synod of th<^ 



I9i THE GENEKAL CONVENTION 

Diocese of Toronto, was appropriately noticed. The 
Bishops were requested to initiate means which 
should, with the blessing of God, lead to the increase 
of the ministry, and to set forth a prayer therefor. 
The preparation of an index to the whole series 
of Journals was ordered. Bishop De Lancey's 
resolution (seconded by Bishop Whittingham) 
appointing a joint committee 

to report to tlie next triennial General Convention, on the 
expediency of arranging the existing dioceses and domestic 
missionary jurisdictions, according to geographical position, 
into provinces, having their several Provincial Conventions, and 
united under a General Convention meeting at longer intervals, 
and having exclusive control over the Constitution, Prayer 
Book, Articles, Offices and Homilies of the Church, 

was referred to the next Convention. 

After a day's delay in the time of the adjourn- 
ment, occasioned by the unwillingness of the 
House of Bishops to admit the principle that a 
presbyter removing into a diocese must necessarily 
be received if bringing clean letters dimissory, it 
was discovered that a canon to that effect had been 
adopted at the previous Convention through the 
neglect of the Bishops to return it to the Lower 
House, with their reasons for rejecting it, within 
the constitutional " three days."* 

* It should be observed in this connection that this canon, as 
amended, was passed by the House of Deputies on the 13th, 
i. €., the last day of the session, and was communicated to 
the House of Bishops on the afternoon of the same day, and 
laid upon the table. This fact proves that the phrase " within 
three days " of the Constitution does not necessarily require 
that there shall be three days' session subsequent to action re- 
ported to the House of Bishops to make this constitutional 
provision operative 



OF THE AMEllICAN CHURCH. 195 

The report of the Committee of Conference, 
which was accepted by both Houses, establishing 
this interpretation of a disputed point, we give in 
full: 

The Joint Committee of Conference having traced through 
the Journal of the General Convention of 1850, the Canon ' ' of 
Ministers removing from one Diocese to another," find that 
Canon to have been deliberately discussed in both Houses 
and by a Committee of Conference between the two Houses, 
and to have been so amended as to contain the provisions now 
incorporated into the Canon proposed as a substitute for the 
Canon XXX. of 1832, by the House of Clerical and Lay Depu- 
ties, and, as so amended, to have been passed as a substantive 
act by the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, duly communi- 
cated by message to the House of Bishops, and not sub- 
sequently acted on by that House, and thereby, by the terms 
of Article III. of the Constitution, to have acquired the force 
of law in the Church, but, by a failure of the secretary to 
notice this fact, not to have been numbered and placed among 
the Canons of that General Convention. 

They therefore recommend that the Canon so passed be 
printed in its proper place as Canon VII. of 1850. 

And, inasmuch as the principle of the Canon now proposed 
by the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies in the substitute 
for Canon XXX. of 1833, has already the force of law in this 
Church, they recommend to the House of Bishops that they 
do concur in the said Canon as passed by the other House. 

John H. Hopkins, 
Chairman of Com'tee of the House of Bishops. 

Ch. Hanckel, 
Chairman of Com'tee of the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies. 

Three amendments to the Constitution were 
proposed: I., to Article 2, requiring lay deputies 
to be communicants and residents of the diocese ; 
II., to Article 5, removing restrictions on the 



196 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

division of dioceses ; and III., to Article 6, pro- 
viding for an uniform mode of trial. 

The Appendix to the Journal contains several 
important papers, among them the majority and 
minority reports on the Judiciary System of the 
Church ; a proposed Canon of Appeals ; Canon of 
the Penal Law of the Church ; and the letters of 
Consecration of the Bishops, from Seabury to 
Scott. 

The names of sixteen hundred and fifty-one 
clergymen appear on the clergy list. 



OF THE AMEKICAN CHURCH. 197 



THE CONVENTION OF 1866. 

In 1856 the Convention met in St. Luke's 
Cimrcli, Philadelphia, from October 1st to October 
21st, inclusive. All but two of the thirty-four Bish- 
ops were in attendance. Bishop Brownell presiding 
in the House of Bishops. One hundred and thirty- 
two clerical and one hundred and thirty-live lay 
deputies composed the lower House. The Presi- 
dent and Secretary of the last Convention were re- 
elected. The diocese of California was admitted 
into union. The discussion on the " memorial " 
question was settled by the adoption of the follow- 
ing preamble and resolutions by the House of Bish- 
ops, and by the appointment of a Committee on 
Church Unity. 

Whereas, The use of the Book of Common Prayer, as regu- 
lated by custom, has special reference to established parish 
Churches, and to a population already incorporated with the 
Church. 

And Whereas, Our actual work is, or should be, among 
many not yet connected with our congregations, or where 
there are no established parishes, and where said parishes are 
yet in their infancy. 

And WJiereas, There are or may be in different dioceses, 
peculiar emergencies arising out of the character or condition 
of certain portions of the population, which demand some 
special services. 

And Whereas, The Book of Common Prayer should be bo 
used as most effectively to cherish true devotion, and set forth 



198 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

the Gospel and work of Christ, and contribute to the ex t cation 
of his kingdom among men. 

And Whereas, The House of Bishops have heretofore ex- 
pressed opinions as to usages which may be allowed under ex- 
isting rubrics and Canons ; therefore 

jResolved, as the opinion of the Bishops, 

1. That the order of Morning Prayer, the Litany, and the 
Communion Service, being separate offices, may, as in former 
times, be used separately, under the advice of the Bishop of 
the diocese. 

2. That on special occasions, or at extraordinary services, 
not otherwise provided for, ministers may, at their discretion, 
use such part of the Book of Common Prayer, and such les- 
son or lessons from Holy Scripture, as shall, in their judgment, 
tend most to edification. 

3. That the Bishops of the several Dioceses may provide 
such special services as in their judgment shall be required by 
the peculiar spiritual necessities of any class or portion of the 
population within said dioceses, provided that such services 
shall not take the place of the services or offices of the Book 
of Common Prayer in congregations capable of its use. 

4. That in view of the desirableness of union amongst 
Christians ; and as a pledge of a willingness to communicate 
and receive information tending to that end ; and in order to 
conference, if occasion or opportunity should occur, this House 
will appoint, by ballot, a committee of five Bishops as an 
organ of communication or conference, with such Christian 
bodies or individuals as may desire it, to be entitled the Gom- 
mission on Church Unity. 

5. That in making the above appointment, it is distinctly 
understood that the Commission is clothed with no authority 
to mature plans of union with other Christian bodies, or to 
propound expositions of doctrine and discipline. 

Bishops Brownell, Hopkins, Mcllvaine, Elliott, 
and Burgess were appointed on the Commission 
provided in the above resolutions. 

Measures were taken to secure the preparation 
of an authorized " Tune-Book," '' with a preface 



OF THE AMEEICAN CHURCH. 109 

containing suggestions as to the best means of pro- 
moting a more simple, devotional, and general uni- 
form singing of the praises of Almighty God in 
our congregations." A Canon '' On Episcopal Kesi- 
dence" had " the operation of law" by failure of 
the House of Bishops to signify their approval or 
refusal thereof with reasons within three days. A 
memorial from the Church of the Advent in Bos- 
ton, Mass., occasioned the passage of a Canon 
" Of Episcopal Yisitations." Other Canons enacted 
at this session are — Of Episcopal Residence ; Of 
Candidates for Orders ; Of Deacons ; Of the Ordi- 
nation of Priests ; Of Clerical Residence and Re- 
moval ; Of the Election and Institution of Minis- 
ters into Parishes or Churches ; Of Expenses ; of 
Election of a Missionary Bishop to a Diocesan 
Epicopate ; Of Missionary Bishops within the 
United States ; Of the Trial of a Bishop. The 
amendments to Art. 2 and Art. 5 of the Constitu- 
tion, proposed at the last Convention, were ratified. 
The proposed amendment of Art. 6 was rejected. 
Amendments to Articles 3 and 4 were adopted, 
subject to confirmation at the next session. An 
elaborate series of canons of discipline, reported by 
the special joint committee on the judicial system 
of the Church, a committee composed of Bishops 
Whittingham, Upfold and De Lancey, Drs. Cooper 
Mead, Stevens, A. H. Vinton and Higbee, and 
Hugh Davey Evans, LL.D., Ezekiel F. Chambers, 
LL.D., and Murray Hoffman, LL.D., failed of en- 
actment, after long discussion. A Canon providing 
for the settlement of differences arising between a 
Bishop and a parish within hie diocese, by a council 



200 THE GENERA I. CONVENTION 

of neighboring Bishops, was reierred to the next 
Convention. The Bisnops appointed a committee 
on Church Music ; and both Houses united in the 
assignment to a joint committee, of the subject of 
friendly intercourse with the Church of Sweden. 
A joint committee was instructed to prepare a digest 
of the Canons of the Church, and other committees 
were appointed on the Foreign Missionary Work of 
the Church, and on a Spanish Prayer Book. An act 
of remission, relieving the Bishop of Pennsylvania, 
Dr. H. U. Onderdonk, from suspension, was pass- 
ed by the Bishops in council and afterwards enter- 
ed on the Journal of the House as follows : 

To all the members of the - Holy Catholic and Reformed 
Church of Christ, throughout the world : 

Grace, mercy, and peace, in Jesus Christ our Lord, We, 
the Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United 
States of America, having duly considered the application of 
Henry Ustick Onderdonk, Doctor of Divinity, and Bishop of 
the said Church, to be relieved from the sentence of suspen- 
sion, passed upon him by the House of Bishops, assembled in 
General Convention, at Philadelphia, October 21st, in the year 
of our Lord 1844, and being satisfied by the evidence laid be- 
fore us, that he has led, during the twelve years which have 
elapsed since the said sentence was pronounced, a sober, godly, 
and blameless life, and that the general mind of the Church, 
so far as it could be ascertained from the memorials addressed 
to us by a large number of the clerical and lay deputies of 
the General Convention, now in session, and others, earnestly 
desires that the said sentence should be remitted in accordance 
with the said application ; have therefore decreed, in pur- 
suance of our Canonical power and discretion, as follows, viz. : 
That the said Henry Ustick Onderdonk, Doctor of Divinity, 
and Bishop as aforesaid, be relieved from the said sentence of 
suspension, and that he stand before the Church restored to 
his proper functions in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
according to the Canons, with full power and liberty to exer- 
cise the same. 



OF THE A.1EKICAN CHURCH. 201 

In witness wliereof, w ; iia-,-.^ .'lereunto set our hands, in 
General Convention, at the Church of St. Luke, in the 
city of Philadelphia, this 21st day of October, A.D. 1856. 
Signed by Bishops Hopkins, Otey, Kemper, McCoskry,.Polk, 
De Lansey, Whittingham, Elliott, Lee, Cobbs, Hawks, Free- 
man, A. Potter, Upfold, Williams, Atkinson, Scott, Lee, H. 
Potter, and Clark. 

The nomination of Kev. Dr. Jacob L. Clark, 
of Connecticut, to the Episcopate of Nebraska 
and Kansas, failed of coniirmation in the House of 
Deputies. The resolution respecting the adoption 
of the provincial system was indeiinitelj postponed 
by the Bishops, who also negatived a proposition 
to limit the term of the presidency of the senior 
Bishops. The republication of previous Journals 
was again voted, and a Committee of Bishops ap- 
pointed to revise the " Course of Ecclesiastical 
Study." In the House of Deputies a decision of 
the chair that a question lost by non-concurrence 
of orders was not "determined in the negative," 
and could be presented essentially in an altered 
form, was sustained, an appeal from the decision 
being laid on the table. 

In the House of Bishops, the resignation of 
jurisdiction by the Bishop of Illinois was refused. 
An interesting correspondence between a commis- 
sion of American Bishops and the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, respecting Episcopal jurisdiction in 
China, is printed in the Appendix. Eighteen hun- 
dred and twenty-eight clergy are reported in thirty- 
one dioceses, and, with those in missionary juris- 
dictions, made the number eighteen hundred and 
fortv-three. 



202 THE GENERAL CONVEISTION 



THE CONYENTIOK OF 1859. 

In 1859, the General Convention met in St. 
Paul's Church, Richmond, Ya., continuing in ses- 
sion from October 5th to October 22d, inclusive. 
Thirty-six Bishops were present ; the presiding 
Bishop, Right Rev. Dr. Brownell, and the Bishop 
of Calif ornia being the only absentees. The Bishop 
of Virginia presided in the House of Bishops. In 
the lower House, one hundred and thirty-one 
clerical and one hundred and six lay deputies were 
in attendance. The officers of the last session were 
re-elected. Minnesota and Kansas were admitted 
into union with the Convention. The Episcopate 
of the American Church was at length made co- 
extensive with the boundaries of the United States 
by the election of the Rev. Dr. Talbot as Mission- 
ary Bishop of Nebraska and the ]^orth-west, the 
Rev. Dr. J. L. Clark, who had been Urst chosen, 
having declined ; and the Rev. Dr. Lay to the Mis- 
sionary Episcopate to the South-west ; and at this 
evidence that God had been with his Church till 
she had filled the land from shore to shore, the vast 
assembly of deputies and spectators sought expres- 
sion of their thankfulness in the spontaneous burst 
of song in the Gloria in Excelsis Deo. A lay 
committee of one from " each diocese, designed to 
bring out more fully to the service and glory of 



OF THE AMERICAjS" CHURCH. 203 

God the latent strength among the laitj of the 
Church, was formed, and initiated results with 
which the Church is still being blessed. The set- 
tlement of differences between clergymen and 
their parishes ; the provision against clerical intru- 
sion ; the recognition of churches of our com- 
munion abroad ; the consecration of Bishops during 
the recess of General Convention ; the appoint- 
ment of standing committees in missionary juris- 
dictions; the abandonment of the ministry by a 
Bishop, and by a presbyter ; the vacancy in a 
Missionary Episcopate ; letters of transfer ; the 
trial of ministers under the jurisdiction of For- 
eign Missionary Bishops, and several provisions 
respecting the repeal, amendment, enactment, and 
taking effect of new Canons, and of notices or 
citation, were subjects of canonical enactments. 
The defeat of the plan proposed for a court of ap- 
peals was so decisive, that the question has hardly 
been mooted on the floor of the Convention since. 
The body of Canons, as digested and compactly 
codifled, was adopted, and thus made available for 
easy reference and use. A committee was appoint- 
ed to secure the republication of the early Journals 
of the Convention with historical notes. The resig- 
nation of the Missionary Episcopate of the North- 
west by the venerable Kemper, now full of years 
and full of labors, was acconipanied by the expres- 
sion by both Houses of the Church's gratitude and 
love. Joint committees were appointed to devise 
a plan for the creation of a Church Building Fund 
for assisting feeble parishes and mission stations ; 



204 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

on Metrical Psalmody and Hymnody ; on Spanish 
and Portuguese versions of the Prayer Book ; while 
a Commission of Bishops had committed to its 
care the subject of opening communication with 
sister and foreign Churches. It was resolved 
" that the clerical and lay deputies from the diocese 
in which the General Convention is to hold its 
session, be a committee to make all the arrange- 
ments necessary therefor." "The great subject of 
the Christian education of the youth of our Church, 
as well in the family as in our Church schools and 
colleges," was referred as a " special matter of in- 
terest," to the consideration of the Committee of 
the Laity. The action of the House of Bishops 
touching the " Memorial " question, gave rise to 
animated discussion in the House of Deputies, it 
being alleged that these resolutions of the Bishops 
had " disturbed the uniformity of worship," and 
had been received " as lawful authority for deviat- 
ing from the Pubric." It was further urged that 
such changes could not be lawfully made, save by 
joint action of both Houses, and in the manner 
prescribed by the Constitution. A special com- 
mittee, of which the celebrated canonist Dr. Fran- 
cis L. Hawks was chairman, pronounced the action 
of the Bishops " an exercise of legislative authority" 
and " an infringement of the privileges of the 
House" of Deputies. Finally, action was taken in 
the following form : 

WTierem, The preamble and resolutions adopted by the 
House of Bishops on the 18th day of the last session of the 
General Convention, in relation to the use of the Book of Com- 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 205 

mon Prayer, and published in the Journal of the said Conven- 
tion, have disturbed the minds of many in our Church, creat- 
ing doubts both as to the effect of said preamble and resolu- 
tions, and as to the constitutionality of the mode in which 
they were adopted and published ; therefore 

Resolved, That the House of Bishops is hereby respectfully 
requested to reconsider the said preamble and resolutions, and 
to throw the subject-matter into such shape as will admit of 
the joint action of both Houses of this Convention. 

In response to this, the House of Bishops 

Resolved, That the action of the Bishops at the Convention 
of 1856 on the subject indicated in the resolution of the House 
of Clerical and Lay Deputies, having been preceded by the de- 
liberations of a commission appointed at the Convention of 
1853, and also by much deliberation and discussion in the 
House of Bishops at both Conventions, the House of Bishops 
are not prepared at this very late hour of the session to take 
any action which may seem to involve the reconsideration of 
their former action. 

The proposed amendments to Articles 3 and 4 
of the Constitution were not ratified. At this Con- 
vention the Bishop of Maine presented to the 
House of Bishops "a catalogue, in chronological 
order, of all persons admitted to Deacons' Orders 
by the Bishops of this Church, since the introduc- 
tion of the Episcopate." The Commission on 
Church Unity was continued. The Committee on 
the Course of Theological Study was also continued. 
The Bishop of Illinois was unanimously requested 
and advised by the House of Bishops " to transfer, 
as speedily as may be, the residence of his family 
to Illinois." The publication of a " Tune-Book " 
was reported to the Bishops, and the committee 



206 THE GE]S'ERAL CONVENTION 

thereon continued. The following resolutions were 
adopted by concurrent vote : 

Besolved, That it is the duty of every member of the Church 
to consecrate a definite percentage of his income to the ad- 
vancement of the cause of our Lord and Saviour. 

Resolved, That systematic and frequent offerings by persons 
and parishes, according to their ability, must be mainly relied 
upon, under the Divine blessing, for the enlargement of the 
benevolent operations of the Church. 

Resolved, That it be recommended to all clergymen in charge 
of parishes, to bring their flocks as near as practicable to com- 
pliance with the spirit of the apostolic direction of the Church 
of Corinth — " Upon the first day of the week let every one of 
you lay hy him in store, as God hath prospered him." And that 
to this end the clergy bring the subject especially to the atten- 
tion of the people, some time during the Advent season of each 
year. 

The unanimous concurrence of the Bishops in 
these resolutions was accompanied with a request 
that the clergy should read them to their congrega- 
tions. The parochial clergy were also requested by 
the House of Deputies ''to bring the Church's 
pressing need of additional laborers before their 
respective congregations, especially in the Ember 
seasons" ; to solicit offerings for the education of 
candidates, and to urge " a more liberal and effect- 
ive patronage" of the training schools and col- 
leges of the Church. In the House of Bishops the 
following action was taken relating to the subject 
of Church music : 

Resoked, That in the opinion of the House of Bishops there 
is very much in the prevailing manner of conducting those 
parts of our public worship which require the aid of sacred 
music, to which the serious attention of the clergy and their 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 207 

congregations should be directed — as not only not promotive 
of a devout spirit, but very injurious thereto ; as directly cal- 
culated to nurture a lifeless formality by making the congre- 
gation mere passive listeners to musical sounds, confined to 
choirs, in the formation of which there is often little reference 
to fitness of personal character ; as virtually depriving the 
congregation of their proper privilege of uniting with their 
voices in the worship of the Church when its words are sung 
as well as when only read ; as impairing the beautiful sim- 
plicity of our public worship, and thus rendering it, in the 
parts referred to, unadapted to the greater number of our 
people, and so taking therefrom one of its chief excellencies, 
as being Common Prayer, accommodated to all conditions of 
Christian people ; as causing, moreover, a needless delay and 
iuterraption of our Morning and Evening Prayer, by the intro- 
duction of music, especially such as is merely instrumental, 
which unprofitably and needlessly abridges the time allotted to 
the preaching of the Word, and, by fatiguing the hearers, 
both in body and mind, interferes v/itli their ability rightly to 
receive the same ; and lastly, as creating in all these particu- 
lars an influence which, in our opinion, is decidedly counter- 
active of the proper work of God's Church, as his appointed 
instrument of cherishing and promoting his worship in spirit 
and in truth. 

Resolved, That in the opinion of the House of Bishops, the 
evils referred to proceed chiefly from the following causes, 
namely : First, from an oversight of the principle that the 
object of Church music is not the gratification of a cultivated 
musical taste, but by the aid of simple and appropriate music, 
to cultivate devout affections among all classes of worshipping 
people, and to enable them to commune with one another in 
the united and animated expression of the same. 

Secondly, from the selection by organists and choirs of such 
tunes and chants as, on account of their not being sufficiently 
familiar to the congregation, or from their want of due sim- 
plicity, the congregation can not be expected to unite in singing. 

Thirdly, from the use of musical compositions, especially 
such aa are called chants, which require too much time in the 
performance, and also from the introduction of voluntaries on 
the organ, before the chants, and between the verses of psalms 



208 THE GENEl^AT. CONVENTION 

and hymns, wliicli, having no value but as exhibitions of in- 
strumental music, are wearying to the congregation. 

Lastly, from the extent to which the control of this part of 
the worship of the Church is virtually taken out of the hands 
of the rectors of parishes, where alone the Church law has 
placed it, and is exercised by committees and vestries, and 
chiefly by organists and choirs. 

Resolved, That in the opinion of the House of Bishops there 
can be no material improvement of our public worship in the 
particulars mentioned, except as each Parish Minister shall 
perform the duty assigned him by the law of this Church, 
which, in the words of the Rubric, is that ' * with such assist- 
ance as he can obtain from persons skilled in music, he shall 
give order concerning the tunes to be sung at any time in his 
church, and especially shall suppress all light and unseemly 
music, and all indecency and irreverence in the performance." 

Resolved, That it be recommended to all the pastors of our 
churches, that they endeavor by all suitable measures to pro- 
mote a general participation of their people, by voice, in those 
parts of our worship which are sung, as well as those which 
are not. 

Resolved, That in the opinion of the House of Bishops, it is 
particularly incumbent on the rectors in our larger and older 
cities, to see that the music of their churches be so conducted 
as to afford a wholesome example to those in our humbler and 
younger congregations, who naturally look to such sources for 
guidance in matters of external order and expediency. 

An important report of the " Tjpograpliical 
Corrector," with reference to errors existing in 
printed copies of the Holy Scriptures, appears in 
the Appendix to the Journal. 

Over two thousand clergy were now reported, 
and at none of our triennial gatherings has there 
been a more marked hospitality, a more generous 
and large-souled remembrance that all were breth- 
ren, and a more hearty devotion to the Church of 
God. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUKCH. 209 



THE COlSTYENTIOlSr OF 1862. 

The Convention of 1862 met in St. John's Chap- 
el, in the city of E'ew-York, in troublous times. 
Its session continued from October 1st to the ITth, 
inclusive. But twenty-four Bishops and twenty-two 
dioceses were represented. The House of Deputies 
contained but eighty-two clerical and sixty-three lay 
members. Bishop Brownell, the senior Bishop, be- 
ing detained by illness, Bisliop Hopkins presided in 
the House of Bishops. The Rev. Dr. Craik, of 
Kentucky, was elected President of the lower 
House, and the Rev. Dr. Randall (Dr. Howe having 
declined a re-election). Secretary, with the Rev. Dr. 
Clarkson as his assistant. The introduction of re- 
solutions, having reference to the disturbed state of 
the country, occasioned lengthy debate and absorbed 
the greater part of the time of this session. The 
action finally taken was the adoption of the resolu- 
tions reported by the " Committee of Mne," as fol- 
lows : 

Resolved, By tlie House of Clerical and Lay Deputies of this 
stated Triennial Convention, That, assembling, as we have 
been called to do, at a period of great national peril and deplo- 
rable civil convulsion, it is meet and proper that we should 
call to mind, distinctly and publicly, that the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church in the United States hath ever held and taught, 
in the language of one of its Articles of Religion, that " it is 
the duty of all men who are professors of the Gospel to pay 



210 THE GENEliAL CONVENTION 

respectful obedience to the civil authority, regularly and legi- 
timately constituted ;" and hath accordingly incorporated into 
its Liturgy ' ' a prayer for the President of the United States 
and all in civil authority," and " a prayer for the Congress of 
the United States, to be used during their session ;" and hath 
bound all orders of its ministry to the faithful and constant 
observance, in letter and in spirit, of these and all other parts 
of its prescribed ritual. 

Besolved, That Ave can not be wholly blind to the course which 
has been pursued, in their ecclesiastical as well as in their civil 
relations, since this Convention last met in perfect harmony 
and love, by great numbers of the ministers and members of 
this Church, within certain States of our Union which have ar- 
rayed themselves in open and armed resistance to the regularly 
constituted government of our country ; and that while, in a 
spirit of Christian forbearance, we refrain from employing to- 
ward them any terms of condemnation or reproach, and would 
rather bow in humiliation before our common Father in Heaven 
for the sins which have brought his judgment on our land, 
we yet feel bound to declare our solemn sense of the deep and 
grievous wrong which they will have inflicted on the great 
Christian Communion which this Convention represents, as 
well as on the country within which it has been so happily and 
harmoniously established, should they persevere in striving to 
rend asunder those civil and religious bonds which have so long 
held us together in peace, unity, and concord, 

Resolxed, That while, as individuals and as citizens, we ac- 
knowledge our whole duty in sustaining and defending our 
country in the great struggle in which it is engaged, we are 
only at liberty, as deputies to this Council of a Church which 
hath ever renounced all political association and action, to 
pledge to the national government — as we now do — the earnest 
and devout prayers of us all, that its efforts may be so guided 
by wisdom and replenished with strength, that they may be 
crowned with speedy and complete success, to the glory of 
God and the restoration of our beloved Union, 

Resolved, That if, in the judgment of the Bishops, any other 
forms of occasional prayer than those already set forth shall 
seem desirable and appropriate, — whether for our Convention, 
our Church, or our country, for our rulers or our defenders, 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 211 

or for tlie sick and wounded and dying of our army and navy 
and volunteers, — we gliall gladly receive them and fervently 
use tliem. 

Resolved, Tliat a certified copy of tlie foregoing report and 
resolutions be transmitted to the House of Bishops, in evidence 
of the views and feelings of this body in reference to the 
afflicting condition of our Church and of our country. 

Both Houses, at the instance of the House of 
Bishops, observed ^^aday of fasting, liumiliation, 
and prayer," in view " of the present afflictive con- 
dition of the country." The following was the 

ORDER OP PUBLIC WORSHIP 

Mr Wednesday/, the Sth day of October, 1862, at 11 o'clock in 
the morning, in Trinity (Jhurch, New- York. 

Morning Prayer as set forth, except as follows : 

Instead of the Venite shall be sung the 130th Psalm. 

The Lessons shall be Isaiah 59 and Luke 6, from the 20th 
verse. 

Psalms for the Sth day, Morning Prayer. 

After the 2d Lesson TJie Benedictus. 

To the suffrage in the Litany for " unity, peace, and concord 
among all naiions," shall be added, — "and especially to this 
nation now afflicted hy grievous war. " 

Immediately after the General Thanksgiving shall be said 
the following : 

Almighty and most Holy Lord our God, who dost command 
us to humble ourselves under Thy Almighty hand that thou 
mayest exalt us in due time, we, Thy unworthy servants, desire 
most humbly to confess before Thee, in this the time of sore 
affliction in our land, how deeply as a nation we deserve Thy 
wrath. In the great calamities which in Thy righteous Provi- 
dence have come upon us, we acknowledge and bow down our 
souls under the Mighty Hand of our Holy and Merciful God 
and Father. Manifold are our sins and transgressions, and the 
more sinful because of the abundance of our privilege and 
mercies under Thy Providence and Grace. In pride and living 
unto ourselves ; in covetousness and all worldliness of mind ; 



212 THE GENERAL CONVENTIOX 

in self-suflaciency and independence ; in glorying in our own 
wisdom, and riches, and strength, instead of glorying only 
in Thee ; in making our boast of Thy unmerited blessings, as 
if our own might and wisdom had gotten them, instead of 'ac- 
knowledging Thee in all and seeking first Thy Kingdom and 
Righteousness ; in profaneness of speech and ungodliness of 
life ; in polluting thy Sabbaths and receiving in vain Thy 
Grace in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, we acknowledge, 
O Lord, that as a nation and people we have grievously sinned 
against Thy Divine Majesty, provoking most justly Thy wrath 
and indignation against us. Righteousness belongeth unto 
Thee ; but unto us confusion of face. Because Thy compas- 
sions have not failed, therefore we are not consumed. Make us 
earnestly to repent and heartily to be sorry for these our mis- 
doings. May the remembrance of them be grievous unto us. 
Turn unto Thee, O Lord, the hearts of all this people, in hu- 
miliation and prayer, that Thou mayest have compassion upon 
us and deliver us. When Thy judgments are thus upon us, 
may the inhabitants of the land learn righteousness. Have 
mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most Merciful Father. 
For Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, forgive us all that 
is past, and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please 
Thee in newness of life, to the Honor and Glory of Thy name. 
We beseech Thee so to sanctify unto us our present distresses, 
and so to make haste to deliver us, that war shall be no more 
in all our borders, and that all opposition to the lawful govern- 
ment of the land shall utterly cease. May our brethren who 
seek the dismemberment of our National Union, under which 
this people by Thy Providence have been so signally prospered 
and blessed, be convinced of their error and restored to a bet- 
ter mind. Grant that all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and 
malice, may be put away from them and us, and that brotherly 
love and fellowship may be established among us to all gene- 
rations. Thus may the land bring forth her increase, under 
the blessings of peace, and Thy people serve Thee in all godly 
quietness, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, to all such as are intrusted 
with the government and protection of this Nation, Thy most 
gracious support and guidance. Graft in their hearts a deep 
sense of dependence on Thy wisdom, and power, and favor. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH 213 

and incline them witli all humility to seek the same. In all 
their ways may they dutifully acknowledge Thee, that Thou 
mayest direct their steps. Make Thy word to be their light, 
their service, their glory, and Thine arm their strength. Fur- 
ther them with Thy continual help, that in all their works be- 
gun, continued, and ended, they may glorify Thy holy Name. 
Under their heavy burdens and trials, be Thou their chosen 
refuge and consolation. By their counsels and measures, under 
Thy blessing, may the wounds of the nation be speedily heal- 
ed. For those, our brethren, who have gone forth for our de- 
fense, by land and water, we seek Thy most gracious blessing 
and protection. In every duty and danger be their present help. 
In all privations and sufferings, give them patience and resigna- 
tion, and a heart to seek their comfort in Thee. May they be 
strong in the Lord and in the Power of his Might, hating ini- 
quity, fearing God, and obeying Thy word. Give them success 
in every enterprise that shall be pleasing to Thee. Visit with 
Thy salvation the sick, the wounded, the prisoner, and all such 
as shall be bereaved of dear relatives and friends, by reason of 
the present calamities. Prepare to meet Thee all those who 
shall die in this conflict ; give them repentance unto life and a 
saving faith in Jesus, that they may be received unto Thyself ; 
and at last unite us all together in the blessedness of Thy 
everlasting Kingdom, through Him who liveth and reigneth 
with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without 
end. Amen. 

Let Thy continual pity, O Lord, cleanse and defend Thy 
Church ; and in these days of sore trial to Thy people, raise 
up Thy great power and come among us, and with great might 
succor us. Grant that by the operation of the Holy Ghost all 
Christians may be so joined together in unity of spirit and in 
the bond of peace, that they may be a holy temple, acceptable 
unto Thee. May all councils of dissension and division be 
brought to nought. Increase our faith, and love, and zeal in 
Thy service, and for the coming of Thy Kingdom. Make the 
whole Church a light in the world, and the more her afflictions 
abound, the more may her consolations also abound by Christ, 
to the praise and glory of His name. Amen, 

After Morning Prayer shall be sung the 101st selection of 
Psalms. 



214 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Tlien shall follow the Collect with the several Prayers fol- 
lowing the same, and the Epistle and Gospel for Ash Wednes- 
day ; after which the 80th hymn. 

Before the Benediction shall be said the following ; 

O Eternal God, who makest men to be of one mind in a 
house, and stillest the angry passions of the people, we humbly 
beseech Thee of Thine infinite mercy to appease the tumults 
among us, to bring to an end the dreadful strife which is now 
raging in our land, and to restore peace in our afflicted coun- 
try. And we most humbly beseech Thee to grant to all of us 
grace to walk henceforth obediently in Thy Holy Command- 
ments, so that, leading a quiet and peaceable life in all godli- 
ness and honesty, we may continually offer unto Thee our sac- 
rifice of praise and thanksgiving ; and we beseech Thee, also, 
O Righteous Father, to whom it justly belongeth to punish 
sinners, and to be merciful to those who truly repent, give us 
grace humbly to acknowledge that our grievous sins have 
brought these Thy sore judgments upon us. Be not angry with 
us forever ; but help us so truly to repent us of our sins, that 
we may be saved from the fruits of our wickedness, that Thy 
displeasure may be removed from us, and that we may again 
with thankful hearts glorify Thee, the only giver of peace and 
safety, through the merits of Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 

The alms offered at this solemn service were 
devoted to purposes of the " Sanitary Commis- 
sion." 

The Committee on Hymnody were instructed 
to prepare and report to the next Convention " a 
body of additional hymns," as well as to revise the 
Psalms and Hymns in use. Committees were ap- 
pointed to consider " the expediency of holding 
communication with the Russo-Greek Church," 
and " on the Special Services in the Prayer Book " 
(section 14, of Canon 13, and Canon 20 of Title I. 
of the Digest). The House of Bishops appointed 



OF THE amp:rican chukch. 215 

a Committee " on Organizing the Services of Chris- 
tian Women." 

The resignation of the Missionary Bishop of Ore- 
gon was not accepted. The Committee on the 
State of the Church reported " an increased atten- 
tion to the subject of Christian education." The 
House of Deputies, agreeably to its uniform prac- 
tice, refused to allow a "protest" against its action 
to be entered upon the Journal of the Houses. The 
" Typographical Corrector " reported that 

A Bible which, with the reinsertion of the omitted references 
to the Apocrypha, should make the Oxford Quarto Edition of 
1852 its model, would present as perfect an edition of the Holy 
Scriptures as human art or skill in the present day could 
effect. 

The Church Building Committee was discharged 
"in view of the present condition of monetary affairs." 
At the request of the respective Diocesan Conven- 
tions, the boundaries of the Diocese of Kansas were 
changed to conform with those of the State, and a 
parish in Massachusetts transferred to the Diocese 
of Rhode Island. In the latter case, the Committee 
on Canons presented the following report : 

This Committee abstain from considering the question 
whether, in strictness, the General Convention has any autho- 
rity or jurisdiction upon the subject. The matter is, however, 
submitted by the two Diocesan Conventions concerned, and it 
is within our province, as well as respectful to those bodies, to 
express the opinion and give the advice requested. 

Historically considered, it may be taken as nearly invariable 
in point of fact that the limits of a Diocese are coextensive 
with the territorial limits of a State, or of some fixed geogra- 
phical division thereof. In the first, second, fourth, sixth and 
ninth articles of the Constitution, prior to 1838, the word 



216 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

*' State" was used where tlie word " Diocese" now occurs, and 
tlie fifth article contained only the first paragraph of the present 
article without the word " Territory." In 1838, that word was 
inserted, and the rest of that article as it now stands adopted. 
The important change was also then made of substituting the 
word " Diocese" for the word " State" in the several articles 
before mentioned. These specific changes are shown in a note 
to the Constitution, printed in the Digest, p. 28. 

Whatever may have been the reasons for this change of lan- 
guage — whether merely because the term " Diocese" was a 
more fitting Ecclesiastical phrase, or for other reasons — it is 
quite certain that in nearly all cases, if not in all, the limits of 
a Diocese at that time were coextensive with the limits of a 
State. An exception was made at the same session in the case 
of the division of the Diocese of New- York. The final act 
for the erection of the Diocese of Western New-York soon took 
place, and the latter came into the General Convention with 
territorial limits distinctly marked out and prescribed. 

Even the case of the "Eastern Diocese," as it was termed, 
strengthens the present view. In the Journal of the General 
Convention of 1811 is recorded a communication to the House 
that the Rev. Alexander V. Griswold had been elected Bishop 
of the Diocese composed of the States of New-Hampshire, 
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont, and in the pro- 
ceedings thereupon the Eastern Diocese is spoken of and as 
composed of those States. 

Thus, then, when, for example, in Article 5, it is provided 
that no new Diocese shall be erected within the limits of any 
other Diocese, these limits will, in point of fact, be found and 
defined by distinct civil territorial divisions. 

The Ecclesiastical writers declare a Diocese to signify the 
circuit of a Bishop's jurisdiction,* and they point out the me- 
thods and rules by which, in case of a question of jurisdiction, 
the matter is to be determined : the evidence and rules by 
which the bounds of a manor would be found. In our coun- 
try, from the facts thus stated, such difl[iculty can scarcely be 
imagined ; and the law against intrusion by one Bishop into 

* Burn's Eccl. Law, Vol. ii., page 157 a ; Cowell's Interpreter 
in verba. Van Espen, Part 1, Title 16, Chapter 3. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 217 

tlie Diocese of anotlier, recognized in Article 4 of the Constitu- 
tion, is readily applied. Diocese, for these and similar purposes, 
is, in truth, nearly synonymous with State or Territory, as a 
fixed geographical division of one of them. 

But it does not follow that upon the change of the boundaries 
of a State, by addition or exclusion, a corresponding change of 
the limits of a Diocese is effected. On the contrary, many con- 
siderations appear to be hostile to such a conclusion. 

The Ecclesiastical writers also speak of a Diocese as composed 
of many Parishes ;* in our more ordinary language, of many 
Churches, or Congregations. This recognizes a relation be- 
tween a Bishop and a Parish or Congregation, involving mutual 
duties and rights. Some relations have also been constituted, 
under our system, between Churches or Congregations and Dio- 
cesan Conventions. 

It appears to this Committee quite clear, that no change of 
the nature in question can be made without tlie consent of the 
Bishop from whose jurisdiction a Parish or Church is to be 
severed. It may also be that the consent of the Bishop to whom 
the transfer would be made, is necessary. The consent of the 
particular Parishes or Churches would seem equally proper, 
and probably, that of the Diocesan Conventions may be re- 
quisite. 

In tlie House of Bishops, two drafts of the Pas- 
toral Letters were presented ; that adopted, being 
the one prepared by the Bishop of Ohio, who pre- 
sided on occasion of its delivery. 

* Ex multis autem paroch>is Dicecesis Episcopalis constat. 
LiDEN, quoted in the Dictionary of Facciolati in verbo. 



218 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



THE CONYENTIOK OF 1865. 

The Convention of 1865 met in St. Andrew's 
Church, Philadelphia, on the 4th of October, and 
continued in session until the 24th of the same 
month. The Eight Eev. John Henry Hopkins, 
D.D., LL.D., presided in the House of Bishops. 
Of the thirty-live Bishops comprising that House, 
eight — the Bishops of Georgia, Virginia, Mississip- 
pi, Florida, Connecticut, Texas, and the Missionary 
Bishop of Oregon — were absent. Twenty-six dio- 
ceses were represented by one hundred and four 
clerical and eighty-six lay deputies. 'No deputa- 
tions attended from the dioceses of Alabama, Flo- 
rida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South-Caro- 
lina, and Virginia. The Metropolitan of Canada, 
the Most Rev. Francis Fulford, D.D., preached the 
opening sermon. The officers of the House of De- 
puties were re-elected. The Diocese of ]S"ew-York 
presented a memorial asking the Convention to pro- 
vide for the organization of the Church in the 
United States into Provinces ; and legislation was 
desired by the Diocese of Pennsylvania for the es- 
tablishment of federate councils. The Metropoli- 
tan of Canada ; the Eight Eev. Dr. Staley, Bishop 
of Honolulu ; and the Rev. Dr. James Beaven, Pro- 
locutor of the Provincial Synod, addressed the 
House of Deputies. The transfer of tlie Missionary 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 219 

Bishop of the l^orth-west to the assistancy of Indi- 
ana was sanctioned by botli Houses. The Conven- 
tion gave its consent to the division of the Diocese 
of Pennsylvania. The Bishop of Tennessee was 
consecrated. A resohition was passed and ordered 
to be printed as an appendix to the Digest of the 
Canons, deprecating the bearing of arms by clergy- 
men. 

The crowning event of the Convention was the 
reunion of the Church, which had been in fact 
separated by the independent action of the South- 
ern dioceses during the civil war, in organizing a 
Council, framing a Constitution and Canons, and 
proceeding to the consecration of a Bishop, neces- 
sarily without reference to their former canonical 
obligations. The Bishop of Alabama, the Bight 
Bev. Dr. B. H. Wilmer, who had been consecrated 
during this period, was received into the Episcopate 
of the Church in the United States, on his signing 
an equivalent to the promise of conformity, taken 
by Bishops of the Church at consecration. 

Yarious propositions respecting the provincial 
system produced no result through the non-concur- 
rence of the Bishops in a permissory canon of Fe- 
derate Councils adopted by the House of Deputies. 
In compliance with the request of the House of 
Deputies, the Bishops set forth sixty-five additional 
hymns which were licensed to be used in public 
worship, but were not to be incorporated in the 
Prayer-Book Hymnal till adopted by the Conven- 
tion. A commission of Bishops was entrusted with 
power to set forth from time to time additional 



220 THE GENEKAL CONVENTIOiN" 

hymns wliicli miglit be used in the congregations of 
the Church until the next Convention. 

In the House of Deputies, the Committee on 
Canons, to whom was referred a resolution to in- 
quire into the propriety of providing that the Rec- 
tor should have the privilege of striking from the 
list of communicants the name of any person who 
may neglect for a certain time to appear at the com- 
munion-table, reported that they deemed such legis- 
lation unnecessary, inasmuch as, in their opinion, 
the '^list of communicants" was a private paper, 
entirely under the control of the Rector. 

In the House of Deputies it was 

Resolved, That all those branches of the Apostolic Church 
which accept the Holy Scriptures and the Niceno-Constantino- 
politan Creed, and which reject the usurpations and innovations 
of the Bishop of Rome, are called, by the course of events and 
the indications of Divine Providence, to renew those primitive 
relations which the Roman schism has interrupted. 

The Committee on Canons, of the lower House, 
to whom was referred a resolution of inquiry as 
to the expediency of the designation of dioceses by 
the title of the principal city in each diocese, re- 
ported that without discussing or deciding upon the 
constitutional authority of the Convention to effect 
the proposed alterations, they were inexpedient at 
the present time. They proceed to say : 

The respective dioceses have exercised the privilege of 
naming themselves, and designating their title. A desire to 
keep in view the federative character of the Church, in har- 
mony with the civil and pohtical descriptions which charac- 
terize us, and distinguish us from the consolidated govern- 
ments of Europe, was doubtless influential in the decision, 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUKCH. 221 



wliicli, without exception, operated in giving the title now 
applied to our dioceses respectively. The titles have become 
familiar to us who are now members of the Church, and to all 
around us. They are used in our histories, and in the writings 
and memoirs of those who have gone before us. 

In the House of Bishops, the Committee on the 
Prayer-Book, consisting of the Bishops of Maine, 
California, and JN^ew-Jersey, recommended the fol- 
lowing rules as to the proper postures at baptism 
and confirmation, " as in strict accordance with the 
rubrics, as sustained also by a widely precedent 
usage, and as adapted by their simplicity to be 
easily remembered and followed :" 

Ministration of Holy Baptism. — Both the minister and all 
the people are to stand throughout the service till the Lord's 
Prayer, All are to kneel during the Lord's Prayer and the 
prayer which follows. All are to stand during the charge to 
the sponsors in the case of infant baptism, and to the witnesses 
and the baptized persons in the case of the baptism of those 
of riper years. 

Order of Confirmation. — All are to stand throughout the 
service till the Lord's Prayer, except that the Bishop may sit 
during the preface and the question addressed to the candi- 
dates, and except also that all the candidates are to kneel, 
as directed by the rubrics, immediately before receiving the 
imposition of hands. All the congregation, as well as the 
Bishop, are to kneel during the Lord's Prayer and the prayers 
which follow ; and the Bishop alone is to stand during the 
blessing with which the office closes. 

The House, however, deemed it best to leave the 
matter for regulation by each Diocesan Bishop 
within his own jurisdiction. 

A special service was held at St. Luke's Church 
as a public expression of thanksgiving to Almighty 



222 THE GENEKAL CONVLKTIOX 

God for tlie restoration of peace to the country 
and unity to the Church. 
The service was as follows : 



\g Sentences. — The Lord's tlironc is lieaven : his king- 
dom ruleth over all. 

The Lord sitteth above the water-flood, and the Lord re- 
maineth a king forever. 

The Lord shall give strength to his people : the Lord shall 
give his people the blessing of peace. 

Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever and ever. 

The special lessons were Isaiah xi. to verse 10 ; St. Matthew 
V. to verse 17. 

Special thanksgiving. 

O Lord, most glorious, the shield of all that trust in thee ; 
who alone dost send peace to thy people, and causest wars to 
cease in all the world ; for thy unspeakable goodness towards 
us, vouchsafe, we beseech thee, to receive the free-will offer- 
ing of our hearts and the praises of our lips. 

Strong is thy hand, and thy wisdom is infinite, and thy 
name is love. Therefore do we laud and worship thee, and 
praise thy holy name, rejoicing continually in thy strength 
and thy salvation ; for thou art the glory of our power, and 
by thy loving-kindness we are preserved. Notwithstanding 
the multitude of our sins, thou hast not forgotten to be gra- 
cious, but heapest blessing upon blessing. To thee, therefore, 
O God, our Saviour and defender, who inhabitest the praises 
of Israel, we offer our sacrifice of thankfulness, and adore thy 
loving-kindness. 

Thou hast regarded us with pity in thy beloved Son ; and by 
his intercession, passing by our grievous transgressions, thou 
hast healed our divisions, and restored peace to our land and 
the fellowship of thy Church ; so that, by thy defence, our 
united land may now enjoy rest and quietness and assurance 
forever. For these and all thy other mercies, we praise thee, 
we bless thee, we glorify thee, we give thanks to thee for thy 
great goodness, O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father 
Almighty. 

We beseech thee to continue thy wonderful goodness to this 



OF THE AMERICAIS^ CHURCH. 223 

thy restored people, that our light may never be removed, nor 
thy mighty acts be forgotten ; but confirm, O Lord, thy work 
to all generations. May we be taught by thy past corrections to 
fear thy justice, and may we be moved by thy long-suffering to 
love thy goodness and obey thy laws. Give us true repent- 
ance for our sins, that, with our bodies and our souls unfeign- 
edly turning unto thee in newness of life, we may enjoy the 
continuance and increase of thy grace and goodness. Let no 
root of bitterness spring up to trouble us, nor any pride and 
prejudice hinder our godly concord and unity. Fill our hearts 
with loving-kindness for the destitute and ignorant, and for 
all who need our sympathy and care. Make us faithful stew- 
ards of every trust committed to us in the gifts of thy provi- 
dence. 

Be with our rulers to guide their counsels, and to strengthen 
their lawful authority ; and sanctify the nation in the solemn 
privileges of freedom, self-government, and power. May our 
land be the sanctuary of civil liberty and religious truths, 
an example to the ends of the earth of the righteousness which 
exalteth a nation. 

Hear, Lord, and save us, O King of heaven, when we call 
upon thee : so shall we, and all thy Church and people, dwe] I 
under the shadow of thy wings, protected by thy power, pre- 
served by thy providence, and ordered by thy governance, to 
thy everlasting praise, and our unspeakable comfort in Jesus 
Christ our Saviour ; to whom, with thee, O Father, and thee, 
O Holy Ghost, be glory and praise and dominion for ever and 
ever. Amen. 

The twenty-third selection. 

The special collect, in the Ante-Communion Office, as fol- 
lows : 

Most mighty God and merciful Father, who hast promised to 
maintain and defend thy Church, so dearly purchased and re- 
deemed with the precious blood of thy Son Jesus Christ : in- 
crease in his mystical body the spirit of unity and love, 
and draw together its members everywhere in one commu- 
nion and fellowship in the faith once delivered to the saints, 
that as there is but one body, and one spirit, and one hope of 
our calling, so we may henceforth be of one heart and one 
soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, faith and 



224 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

charity, and may witli one mind and one mouth glorify thee, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. 

The 104th hymn. 

The offertory was for the Protestant Episcopal Freedmen's 
Commission, the first collection for that object. 

The special prayer before the benediction, as follows : 

O Almighty Father, the God of peace and love, we beseech 
thee to enable us to put away from us all strife, envy, and 
malice, as becometh thy people ; and that our late trials, under 
tbe guidance of thy providence and Holy Spirit, may be over- 
ruled for the furtherance of the (Gospel in this land and 
throughout the earth. All which we ask for Jesus Christ's 
sake, our Lord and Saviour. Amen. 

The election of the Rev. Dr. Clarkson to the 
Missionary Episcopate of ISTebraska, and the Rev. 
Dr. Eandall to the Missionary Episcopate of Colo- 
rado, and the Rev. Channing Moore Williams to 
the Missionary Episcopate of China, was unani- 
mous in each case. The choice of the Rev. Dr. 
Howe, long the efficient secretary of the House of 
Deputies, to the Missionary Episcopate of Nevada, 
was not consummated, as Dr. Howe declined the 
appointment. 

The nominations of the Rev. M. C. Lightner as 
Missionary Bishop of Colorado, and the Rev. Robert 
J. Parvin to the Missionary Episcopate of ^Nevada, 
were not confirmed by the House of Deputies. 
The resolutions reported by the Committee on 
Christian Education, and unanimously adopted, are 
of permanent interest : 

1. ResoUed, That the Convention should press upon the 
hearts and consciences of parents the exceeding importance of 
the more diligent training of their children at home in Chris- 
tian truths and duties, as the special task of the parents them- 



OF 'JHE AMERICAN CHURCH. 225 

selves, of the father as well as of the mother, — a duty not to 
be delegated to any one else, and to which the parents should 
devote a due part of the time and energies of the Lord's day 
especially. 

2. Resolved, That the Convention earnestly counsel parents 
and preceptors to guard their youthful charge from the cor- 
rupting influences of much of the common literature of the 
day, and to provide for them wholesome, instructive, as well 
as attractive books and periodicals, as a most needful part of 
family Christian culture. 

3. Resolved, That the duty is hereby solemnly urged upon 
those who have worldly wealth, to give towards the endow- 
ment of the schools and colleges of the Church, and the foun- 
dation of professorships, scholarships, and prizes, by gifts, 
during life, and by bequests which will strengthen this part 
of the Church's work long after the donor has gone to his rest. 

4. Resolved, That it is most clearly and imperatively the 
duty of parents and guardians to their children and wards, as 
well as to the Church, when they send the sons and daughters 
of the Church from their homes, to send them to her own 
schools and colleges, not to those where her worship and 
teaching are unknown ; and least of all to those in which 
Romanism so stealthily but surely perverts the faith of so 
many of the children of unreflecting or faithless parents. 

5. Resolved, That the godly parents in the Church owe more 
of their sons to the ministry of Christ ; and that they ought 
by prayer and spiritual culture to form the hopes and hearts 
of such sons into the devotion to this peculiar and high calling, 
which alone can fit men for the ministry, and make it a work 
of joy to their souls. 

Of similar value are the resolutions reported by 
the Committee on the Domestic and Foreign Mia- 
sionary Society: 

Resolved, That, in the judgment of this House, there hag 
never been a time in thp history of our Church when the 
demand for missionary effort, at home and abroad, was so 
urgent and imperative as at the present moment ; and that we 
earnestly call upon our constituents, in eviery jdiocese of this 



226 THE GENEIiAL CONVENTION 

Churcli, to arouse themselves to realize the exigencies of the 
hour, and to labor, and give, and pray with a freer heart and 
more fervent zeal. 

Resolved, That it be recommended to the ecclesiastical autho- 
rity in the sparsely settled dioceses and missionary districts 
to institute a system'of itinerancy, by which most of the small 
communities within their borders can be supplied with regular 
visits and ministrations by clergymen of our Church ; and 
that the Committee of the Board for Domestic Missions be 
requested to favor, by making the needful appropriations, the 
employment of such a corps of laborers. 

Resolved, That further to facilitate the effort to bring the 
worship of our Church to the knowledge and enjoyment of all 
people in our land who are now living in neglect of their reli- 
gious duties, and especially of the Lord's day, it be recom- 
mended to our parochial clergy, with the advice and sanction 
of their Bishops, to appoint and send forth lay readers on the 
outskirts of their cures to gather in the wanderers, and to con- 
duct among them the service of the (Jhurch, and otherwise to 
instruct them, as they may be licensed, in the duties of reli- 
gion. 

Resolved, That persons removing to isolated places, where 
they will be cut off from the privileges of the sanctuary, 
should be charged by the pastors from whose immediate care 
they separate themselves, as they are virtually bound by the 
vows of baptism and by the constitution of the family in the 
ordinance of God, to maintain the stated worship of the 
Church in their own dwellings on the Lord's day, and to teach 
their children diligently in the Catechism and OflSices of the 
Church. 

Two subjects of inquiry among others brought 
before the Convention claim record. 

1st. As to the authority for the rubric inserted 
at the end of the Metrical Hymns, to wit : ^ When- 
ever the Hymns are used at the celebration of 
Divine Service^ a certain portion or portions of 
the Psalms of David in metre shall also he sung, it 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 227 

was ascertained that the said rubric was passed by 
both Houses of Convention in 1809, and was made the 
condition on which the said Hymns were to be used. 
For proof thereof, reference is made to pages 249, 
253, 255, and 261 of the Journals as published by 
Bioren in 1817. The said rubric having never been 
either directly or inf erentially abrogated, was, there- 
fore, pronounced of necessary obligation. 

2d. x\s to certain alleged typographical errors in 
the " Table of Proper Psalms for certain days," the 
Committee reported as follows : 

In the first place, tlie existence of certain discrepancies 
"between the table of Proper Psalms on certain days, as con- 
tained in the English sealed Books of Common Prayer and that 
set forth in the Standard Book of our own Church, is apparent. 

That these discrepancies were intentional may be assumed 
from the fact that in various editions of the American Book of 
Common Prayer, set forth by the Convention that framed and 
ratified the same, and accepted as the Standard Books of this 
Church, the table, as we have it in our present Prayer Book, is 
found with unvarying uniformity. 

Further : that in the various tables of Errata in these Stand- 
ard Books, prepared by the venerable Bishop White, and 
appended to the Journals of successive Conventions, and so 
minute as to embrace errors of punctuation or orthography, no 
mention is made of any error in the table under present con- 
sideration. 

Further : that, in the preparation of the present Standard 
Book of Common Prayer, the Committee to whom was com- 
mitted its preparation, and whose labors were most painstaking 
and exhaustive, noting, among other things, every supposedor 
possible typographical error, the correctness of the " Table,'* 
as we have it in our present Prayer Book, was confirmed and 
attested as being the ' ' Table " as this Church has received the 
same. 

Further than this it is not necessary for your Committee to 
discuss the question committed to them. They may, however. 



228 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

direct tlie attention of those wlio allege tliat the change re- 
ferred to arose from accident or a typographical blunder to the 
recorded opinions of the venerable compilers of our Liturgy 
on this very point. We append the language of Bishop 
White : 

"As y® Psalms are a considerable Part of y^ Morning and 
Evening Prayer, it may be proper to mention in this Place, y^ 
Reason of their being so considerably shortened, ' All Scrip- j 
ture is given for Doctrine and Instru ction in Righteousness. ' 
Yet it is supposed that all Parts thereof were not indited for 
Christian Worship ; and that y« Church hath a Latitude to 
select such parts as she shall judge best suited thereto. There- 
fore such Portions only of y« Psalms are retained, as were 
thought y« most beautiful and affecting. In order to add to 
y® Propriety and Sublimity of y^ Psalter, y® Translation in y* 
Bible has been preferred, where it was thought to have a 
stronger Tendency than y® other to raise Devotion. A new 
Division became necessary in Consequence of y* preceding 
changes. " * 

This language, together with the further expression of the 
same venerable man desiring his colleague in the work of 
amending the English Prayer Book to give particular attention 
to "the reading Psalms" of the greater Festivals,! made in 
connection with the preparation of the "Proposed Book," 
induces your Committee to believe that it was not without due 
deliberation that so marked and decided a change was intro- 
duced into our Service Book. Though the reason leading the 
compilers of our American Book of Common Prayer to allow 
selections of Psalms to take the place of those in regular course 
at the option of the clergyman, and to change particular 
•'Psalms for certain days" for others more suitable in their 
opinion, may not obtain at the present time, there can not be 
any doubt but that, at that period of our ecclesiastical history, 
there was a strong tendency to change, abbreviate, or omit 

* Hints toward a preface, in the handwriting of Bishop 
White, preserved among the manuscripts of the General Con- 
vention, and published in the notes to Perry's reprint of the 
old Journals of the General Convention, III., p. 515. 

f Vide Bishop White's Letter to Dr. William Smith, in Re- 
print of old Journals, III., p. 524. 



OF TIIL: AMEKICAX CHURCH. 229 

portions of the Psalter, from an opinion alluded to by Bishop 
White in this language quoted above. The action of a portion 
of the American Church in setting forth the ' ' Proposed Book" 
in which these changes and omissions were marked and radical, 
and the previous or subsequent preparation of amended Psalters 
in various sections of the American Church at the period of our 
organization, attests this feeling ; and the mere mention of it 
is sufficient to confirm the supposition, were it not supported 
by more direct testimony, that the change under discussion was 
intentional, and, as such, made an integral part of our American 
Book of Common Prayer. 

One new Canon alone, " Of the Requisites of a 
Quoi'um," was adopted, and several amended. The 
number of clergy in the reunited Church now 
numbered two thousand four hundred and fifty. 



230 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



THE CONYE^TIOE" OF 1868. 

The Convention of 1868 met in Trinity Church, 
Kew-York, on the 7th of October, and continued 
its sessions in Trinity Chapel and the Church of 
the Transfiguration until the 29th of the same 
month. The Rt. Rev. Benjamin Bosworth Smith, 
D.B., presided in the House of Bishops. 

One hundred and forty clerical, and one hundred 
and thirty lay, deputies were in attendance. The 
opening sermon was preached by the Bishop of 
Delaware. The Rev. Dr. Craik was re-elected Pre- 
sident of the House of Deputies, and the Rev. 
William Stevens Perry, of Connecticut, Secretary. 

The Diocese of Pittsburgh was represented for 
the first time, and the Diocese of JS^ebraska was 
admitted into union. Maryland was divided into 
two dioceses (East on) ; New- York into three (Al- 
bany and Long Island) ; and Western New- York 
into two (Central New- York). The membership 
of the Board of Missions was increased. Amend- 
ments to Art. 5 of the Constitution, providing for 
the further division of dioceses, were adopted for 
final action at the next session. The insertion of 
an additional Cycle completing the present century, 
and the omission of the Cycle from 1843 to 1861, 
inclusive, in the Calendar of the Prayer Book, were 
adopted for action at the following Convention. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUECH. 231 

The suggestion of tlie Convention of the Diocese 
of Georgia that measures should be taken to secure 
the "alteration of the Constitution of the Church, 
so that the word ^ Convocation ' shall designate the 
Diocesan Convention, and the word ^ Council ' the 
General Convention, leaving the word ^ Synod ' as 
a fit and proper name for the Assembly of Deputies 
from a Province in the Church, when such ec- 
clesiastical bodies shall be established," failed to 
receive adoption. 

The Committee on the Prayer Book, of the House 
of Deputies, reported with regard to an alleged 
grammatical inaccuracy or typographical error in 
that portion of the Office for the Holy Communion, 
known as the " Invocation," as follows : 

Your Committee find from Bisliop White's " Memoirs of th< 
Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States," that thos6 
portions of the Communion office known as the ''Oblation' 
and " Invocation," were introduced at the instance of Bishop 
Seabury,* of Connecticut, at the General Convention held in 
Philadelphia in 1789 : That the same portions had been used 
in the Diocese of Connecticut previous to the General Conven- 
tion of 1789 ; f that they were derived from the office of the 



* Vide ''Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church," 
Second Edition. New- York, 1838. Page 154. 

f Vide " The Communion Office, or Order for the Adminis- 
tration of the Holy Eucharist or Supper of the Lord. With 
Private Devotions. Recommended to the Episcopal Congrega- 
tions in Connecticut. By the Right Reverend Bishop Seabury. 
New-London: 1786." In republishing this Edition of the 
Scotch Office, and in recommending its use in his Diocese, 
Bishop Seabury was carrying out the terms of the "Concor- 
dat," entered into with the Bishops of Scotland at the time of 
his Consecration. Vide Historical Notes and Documents ap- 
pended to Perry's Reprint of the Journals of the General Con- 
vention, Vol. III., p. 237. 



232 THE GENERAL CONVENTfON 

Scotch Episcopal Church ; that in the said oflBce,* instead of 
tlie words " we, and all others who shall be partakers," etc., 
the expression is " Whosoever shall be partakers," etc, ; and 
that the change to " we, and all others who shall be partakers," 
etc., was probably made by Bishop Seabury. 

Considering, however, that the phraseology as it now occurs 
in the Prayer Book has been so long in use without occasion- 
ing any difficulty affecting either devotion or doctrine, and that 
your Committee have not discovered that the expression ob- 
jected to in the resolution was occasioned by any typographical 
error, they are unanimously of the opinion, that it would not 
be advisable to make any change in the present phraseology. 

A Commission on Archives was created. 

In the House of Bishops the Committee on the 
Prayer Book, to whom was referred an inquiry in 
regard to the Lessons, Collect, Epistles, and Gospel, 
proper to be read on any Sunday which is also a 
holy day, recommended that on all such occasions 
the Lessons, Epistles, and Gospel for the Sunday 
shall be used, and that the Collects for both Sunday 
and holy day should be read. 

Two reports were made on the question of the Con- 
duct of Public Worshij), that of the majority being 
presented by the Rev. Dr. (now Bishop) Paddock. 

The Committee on Canons to whom were referred sundry 
memorials touching greater uniformity in the conduct of pub- 
lic worship, and in the administration of the Rites and Sacra- 
ments of the Church, would respectfiilly report the following 
preamble and resolutions, which they recommend for adop* 
tion : 

Whereas, This Church seeks to keep the happy mean be* 
tween too much stiffness in refusing and too much easiness in 

* Vide Reliquiae Liturgicse, Vol. II. (The Scottish Prayer 
Book), p. 150. And also the various Communion Offices in 
Hall's Fragmenta Liturgica, Vol. V. (Non-jurors and Scottish 
Offices). 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 233 

admitting variations in things once advisedly established ; and 
holds that with regard to things in their own nature indiffe- 
rent and alterable, and so acknowledged, it is but reasonable 
that upon weighty and important considerations, according to 
the various exigencies of times and occasions, such changes 
and alterations should be made therein as to those who are in 
places of authority shall from time to time seem either neces- 
sary or expedient ; her aim being to do that which, according 
to her best understanding, may most tend to the preservation 
of peace and unity in the Church, the procuring of reverence, 
and the exciting of piety and devotion in the worship of God ; 
and finally, the cutting off occasion from them that seek 
occasion, of ca^^l against the Church and its Liturgy ; and 

WTiereos, It has been represented to this House by divers 
memorials numerously signed by presbyters and laymen of 
this Church, that the introduction, by certain of her ministers, 
of vestments, ceremonies, practices, and ornaments of churches, 
not heretofore generally known in the public worship of this 
Church, is marring her good order and harmony, wounding the 
consciences of many of her true and loyal children, scandaliz- 
ing and repelling many without her fold, deferring hopes of 
Christian unity, and imperiling portions of the faith ; and 

Whereas, It has also been represented by memorials, like- 
wise signed, that the neglect and disuse, by certain of the min- 
isters, of vestments, usages, and, in some instances, rubrics, 
well established and generally observed in this Church, are 
marring her order and beauty, disturbing her uniformity, 
and encouraging individual lawlessness and self-will ; there- 
fore, be it 

Resolved, The House of Bishops concurring, that, with de- 
vout acknowledgment of that gracious presence and assistance 
of her Divine Master which has been so signally vouchsafed to 
this Church at many a crisis more perilous than the present, 
enabling her, in the midst of aggressions from without and in- 
numerable short-comings and extravagances from within, to 
maintain the integrity of her doctrine and the beauty, decency, 
and dignity of her worship, this Convention attributes this 
happy result in a great measure, under God, to that spirit of 
moderation which has hitherto guided tjie counsels of this 
Church, and which has rendered her averse to all restrictions 



234 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

of the liberty of her children in things indifferent or unessen- 
tial, so long as unity can be maintained and spiritual edifica- 
tion promoted in any other way. It is the sense of this Con- 
vention, therefore, that the enactment of any canon on the sub- 
ject of ritual would be unwise and inexpedient at the present 
time. But it is none the less the sense of this Convention that 
the continued maintenance of the decency and order as well as 
of the peace and harmony which, by God's blessing, have al- 
ways characterized this Church ; the avoidance of the dangers 
of irreverence and lawlessness on the one hand, and of extra- 
vagance and superstition on the other ; the preservation of 
doctrine from peril of intentional or unintentional change, and 
a due regard to the scriptural canon of walking wisely toward 
them which are without, require from all ministers of this 
Church, celebrating divine service in churches or other estab- 
lished places of public worship, a conscientious and, so far as 
may be, steadfast adherence to such vestments, ceremonies, 
practices, and ornaments, as, by reason of long- continued use 
or by authority, are recognized as properly belonging to tliis 
Church, avoiding errors either by excess or by defect. And, 
further, that in all matters doubtful, for the avoidance of un- 
seemly disputes and contradictory practices, which tend neither 
to good name nor to godliness, reference should be made to 
the Ordinary, and no changes should be made against the godly 
counsel and judgment of the Bishop. 

A portion of the committee, the Kev. Dr. (now 
Bishop) M. A. De Wolfe Howe and Mr. John IS'. 
Conjngham, LL.D., presented a minority report 
with the following resolutions : 

Whereas, It has heretofore been ne of the peculiar charac- 
teristics and attractions of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
that its worship and the mode of conducting it have been in all 
places substantially alike ; so that every child of the Church 
in any one of her sanctuaries, found a familiar spiritual home • 
and 

Whereas, It has been especially distinctive of this Church, 
that while it has avoided the baldness of most of the modes of 
Protestant worship, it has still more decidedly put away the 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 235 

many-colored vestments, excessive ceremonial, and false sym- 
bolism of a foreign Cliurch with which it is not in communion ; 
therefore 

1. Resolved, As the sense of this Convention — the House of 
Bishops concurring — that the maintenance of our wonted uni- 
formity and simplicity in worship is exceedingly desirable, to 
secure this Church from the insidious introduction of unsound 
doctrine, from the disturbance of the peace and comfort of its 
worshippers, and from exposure to evil report among them 
who are without. 

2. Mesolved, That while there is no absolute directory in the 
Canons or Rubrics of the Church, specifying all official vest- 
ments and practices, and all ecclesiastical ornaments which 
may be fitly used therein, yet there is the indication of great 
simplicity ; and the traditional usages of the Church in this 
behalf, from the date of its organization here to the present 
period, is in conformity therewith, and has, in the hearts and 
minds of the great body of its loyal members, the force 
of law. 

3. Resolved, That this Convention affectionately urges upon 
all w^ho have to do with the ordering of the appointments of 
public worship, that they abide by the traditions and ceremo- 
nies of this American Church ; that none other than the " cle- 
rical habits" known to our fathers, and referred to by the 
House of Bishops at the General (Convention of 1814, as appro- 
priate to ministers officiating in the congregation, " bands, 
gowns, and surplices," with their customary appendages, cas- 
socks, and black stoles, be provided, and that no strange orna- 
ments of the sacred places, conducive to vain show or supersti- 
tion, be introduced. 

4. Resolved, That, in the judgment of this Convention — the 
House of Bishops concurring — the burning of lights in the 
Order for the Holy Communion, the burning of incense, reve- 
rences to the holy table, or to the elements thereon, the eleva- 
tion of the elements, making the sign of the cross (except 
when prescribed in the Rubric) in and during divine service or 
the celebration of the Lord's Supper, are innovations on our 
mode of conducting public worship, offend against the common 
order of the Cliurch, and wound the consciences of many of its 
true and loving members. 



236 THE GENERAL CONVENTION" 

5. Itesolved, Tliat this Convention earnestly expresses its 
disapproval of the omission of any of those proprieties of ap- 
parel and demeanor, when ministering in the congregation, 
which either rule or general usage has made distinctive of our 
worship, and commends all who, being in holy orders, would 
deviate on the right hand or on the left, from the common 
order of the Church's worship, to seek first the counsel of their 
Bishops, and submit themselves to their godly judgments. 

The consideration of the whole subject being made 
the order of the day, it was moved to amend the 
resolution reported by the Committee, by striking 
out all after the word " Resolved," and inserting in- 
stead that portion of the resolutions accompanying 
the minority report, numbered respectively, 2, 3, 4, 
and 5. The Rev. Dr. (now Bishop) Littlejohn 
moved as an amendment to the proposed amend- 
ment the following : 

Resolved, That the House of Bishops be requested to set forth 
for consideration and adoption by the next General Convention 
such additional Rubrics in the Book of Common Prayer, as, in 
their judgment, may be deemed necessary. 

Resolved, That meanwhile, in all matters doubtful, reference 
should be made to the Ordinary, and no changes should be 
made against the godly counsel and judgment of the Bishop. 

Resolved, That copies of the reports of the majority and mi- 
nority of the Committee on Canons be transmitted to the House 
of Bishops. 

A substitute was offered for the several amend- 
ments before the House, as follows : 

Resolved, That the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies con- 
sider the Liturgy, Offices, and Articles of the Church suffi- 
cient exponents of her sense of the essential doctrines of Holy 
Scripture ; and that the Canons of the Church afford ample 
means of discipline and correction for all who depart from hex 
standard. 



OF THE AMEEICAN CHUECH. 237 

Revived, further. That the General Convention is not a suit- 
able tribunal for the trial and censure of, and that the 
Church is not responsible for, the errors of individuals, whether 
they are members of this Church or otherwise. 

This being defeated by a vote of 21 nays to 11 
ayes and 2 divided of the clergy, and 20 nays to 7 
ayes and 3 divided of the laity, the amendment of- 
fered by the Eev. Dr. Littlejohn was adopted by a 
vote of 21 ayes to 10 nays and 4 divided of the clergy, 
and 18 ayes to 8 nays and 4 divided of the laity. 

This result having been communicated to the 
House of Bishops, on motion of the Bishop of 
Maryland, it was 

Resolved, Unanimously, That the House of Bishops affec- 
tionately informs the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies that 
in the full trust that the spirit of the second of the three 
resolutions communicated by that House in its Message No. 
78, will be carried out in the action of the clergy and laity 
of the several dioceses and missionary jurisdictions of this 
Church, this House deems it unadvisable to enter upon any 
alteration of the rubrics of our Book of Common Prayer by 
the insertion of additional matter ; but that it will appoint a 
Committee whose duty it shall be to consider whether any 
additional provision for uniformity, by canon or otherwise, is 
practicable and expedient, and to report to the next General 
Convention. 

The Presiding Bishop appointed as the Commit- 
tee to consider whether any additional provision 
for uniformity in matters of Ritual, by canon or 
otherwise, is practicable and expedient, and to 
report to the next General Convention, the Bishop 
of Delaware, the Bishop of Connecticut, the Bishop 
of New- Jersey, the Bishop of Rhode Island, the 
Bishop of Pittsburgh. 



238 THE GENERAL CONVENTION- 

In reply to one of the several " memorials " 
presented to tliis Convention, asking for greater 
latitude in the nse of the Book of Common Prayer, 
a Committee of the Bishops, consisting of the 
Bishops of Delaware, Virginia, and "Western 'New- 
York, reported as follows : 

Tliat while disposed to treat witli respectful and tender 
consideration the conscientious difficulties of brethren on 
whose behalf this memorial has been presented to the General 
Convention, and without expressing an opinion adverse to the 
expediency of a wise and careful examination of some of the 
offices of the Prayer Book, with the view of removing all 
cause of complaint or objection, they can not recommend a 
favorable answer to the present petition. The memorial, 
without naming any specific grievance to be remedied, asks 
for a latitude in the use of the Liturgy which seems incom- 
patible with that uniformity in the services of this Church 
which has been considered an eminent advantage and excel- 
lence — and such license, moreover, if granted, would expose 
the convictions and rights of a congregation to be sacrificed to 
the scruples or peculiar views of the minister. The Commit- 
tee recommend, therefore, the following resolution : 

Resolved, That, in the opinion of this House, such latitude 
in the use of the Book of Common Prayer as the memorialists 
ask, could not be allowed with safety, or with proper regard 
to the rights of our congregations. 

On motion of the Bishop of Massachusetts, this 
resolution was unanimously adopted. 

In the same House, the following resolutions, 
accompanying the report on Christian education, 
were unanimously adopted, and were communicated 
to the House of Deputies : 

Resolved, That the Bishops do call on the educated members 
of this Church, the men and women competent and free to 
train our sons and our daughters in the faith and the piety of 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 239 

tlie Gospel as exhibited in our Book of Common Prayer, and 
to educate them in secular learning and attainment, to consider 
the question of their privilege and duty thus to work for 
Christ and his CTiurch under the care and guidance of their 
Bishops, and in such associations and under such rules as 
shall receive the Episcopal sanction in each Diocese. To such 
associations, and to such work, the Bishops give their hearty 
encouragement, and their fervent blessing. 

Resolved, That the Bishops call upon the people committed 
to their charge, to give promptly and freely of their worldly 
wealth, to plant and nourish such schools of the Church. 

The following action was taken, at the instance 
of the Missionary Committee of the Lower House : 

Resolved, That it he recommended to the ecclesiastical 
authorities in the thinly-settled dioceses and missionary dis- 
tricts to have regard for the following agencies: 

1st. To provide a system of itinerancy by which the services 
of the Church may be carried to small communities and isolat- 
ed households. 

2d. To give larger scope and more efficiency to the volunta- 
ry service of pious laymen who may be willing to give a stated 
portion of their time to missionary duty. 

3d. To encourage and exhort families settled in remote 
places and deprived of the privileges of the Sanctuary to 
maintain the stated worship of the Church in their own 
dwellings on the Lord's day, and to teach their children dili- 
gently in the Catechism and offices of the Church. 

It was also resolved, in accordance with the 
recommendation of a lay committee. 

That it is a solemn and urgent duty of each and all of the 
lay members of the Church to make systematic and constant 
efforts for the better maintenance of the clergy and of their 
families. 

Action respecting the subject of " Ilymnody " 
took the following form ; 



240 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Resolved, That tlie additional Hymns, licensed for use by the 
last General Convention, be adopted and allowed to be bound 
up with the Book of Common Prayer. 

Resolved, That the Bishops of this Church are allowed to 
license the use in their respective Dioceses, until the next 
meeting of the General Convention, of the collection known 
by the title, " Hymns for Church and Home ;" and the collec- 
tion known as " Hymns Ancient and Modern ;" with the excep- 
tion, in the latter collection, of Hymns numbered 26, 31, 115, 
164, 203, 206, 209, 212, 242, 249 : these Hymns being deemed 
objectionable. 

A new missionary jurisdiction, with the follow- 
ing boundaries : on the east by the Missouri river, 
on the south by the State of Nebraska, on the west 
by 104 meridian, the Territory of Wyoming, and 
Nebraska, on the north by 46 degrees north latitude, 
was established, and temporarily placed under the 
charge of the Missionary Bishop of Nebraska. 
The two Houses sent, by ocean-telegraph, the ex- 
pression of " their affectionate condolence to the 
Church of England on the death of its venerable 
Primate," which occurred during the session. 
The name of the Freedmen's Commission was 
changed to " The Home Missionary Commission 
for Colored People." 

The following preamble and resolutions were 
adopted by the Bishops, on motion of the Bishop 
of Illinois : 

WJiereas, In the year of our Lord, 1867, his Grace, the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, did invite " the Bishops of the 
Reformed Church in visible communion with the United 
Church of England and Ireland," to meet for brotherly con- 
ference in the Palace at Lambeth in September of that year ; 
and 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUliCH. 241 

Wliereas, Pursuant to such invitation, a majority of the 
Bishops of the Anglican Communion did thus assemble for 
fraternal council and spiritual communion ; and 

Whereas, The results reached by their deliberations were of 
such importance, and were attained with so much unanimity, 
as to entitle them to great moral weight with all Churches of 
the Anglican Communion, therefore, 

Hesolvcd, The House of Clerical and Lay Deputies concur- 
ring, that this Church, now represented in General Convention, 
does adopt the following resolutions : 

I. Hesolvcd, That this Church records, with gratitude to 
Almighty God, the satisfaction and thankfulness with which 
it regards the solemn Assembly of the Bishops of the Anglican 
Communion in the Lambeth Conference, by which the bonds 
have been strengthened " of Christian communion between 
Churches, acknowledging one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, 
and connected by Common Formularies," and we do cordially 
unite in the language and spirit of the "Introduction" by 
which the deliberations of that body were prefaced : 

We, Bishops of Christ's Holy Catholic Church, in visible 
communion with the United Church of England and Ire- 
land, professing the Faith delivered to us in. Holy Scripture, 
maintained by the Primitive Church, and by the Fathers of 
the English Beformation, now assembled, by the good Provi- 
dence of God, at the Archiepiscopal Palace of Lambeth, under 
the Presidency of the Primate of all England, desire First, to 
give hearty thanks to Almighty God for having thus brought 
us together for common counsels and united worship ; Secondly, 
we desire to express the deep sorrow with which we view the 
divided condition of the tiock of Christ throughout the world, 
ardently longing for the fulfilment of the Prayer of our Lord 
" That all may be One, as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in 
Thee, that they also may be One in us, that the world may b«- 
lieve that Thou hast sent me;" and Lastly, we do here solemnly 
record our conviction that unity will be most effectually pro- 
moted by maintaining the Faith in its purity and integrity, as 
taught in the Holy Scriptures, held by the Primitive Church, 
summed up in the Creeds, and aflfirmed by the undisputed 
General Councils ; and by drawing each of us closer to our 
common Lord, by giving ourselves to much prayer and inter- 



242 I^HE GENERAL CONYEXTIOIT 

cession, by the cultivation of a spirit of charity, and a love of 
the Lord's appearing, 

IL Resolved, That this Church receives the Encyclical Let- 
ter, an " Address to the Faithful in Christ Jesus, the Priests, 
and Deacons, and the Lay Members of the Church of Christ, 
in communion with the Anglican Branch of the Church," and 
orders the same to be placed among the Archives in charge 
of the Registrar. 

III. Resolved, That we acknowledge with thankfulness the 
act of the venerable Primate (of whose lamented decease this 
House has been to-day informed), in convening the meeting of 
the Chief Pastors of the Anglican Communion ; and we unite 
in his own words of supplication: *' That our Almighty Father 
shed abroad upon us the spirit of wisdom, peace and love, so 
that being knit together more closely in the bonds of brother- 
ly affection and Christian communion, and animated with 
more fervent zeal for the Saviour's honor and the salvation of 
souls, we may do our endeavor to prepare. His Church for the 
coming of Him whom we lovingly adore, and whose advent in 
power and glory we ardently look to and long for. 

IV. Resolved, That this Church accepts the full spiritual 
validity of the deposition and excommunication of Dr. Colenso, 
pronounced by the Metropolitan and Bishops of the South- 
African Church ; and we will regard him as deposed and ex- 
commuiiicate, accordingly, until he shall so turn from his 
errors, and be restored to full communion by the Church of 
South-Africa, which God of his infinite mercy grant. 

V. Resolved, That this Church recognizes with satisfaction 
as indispensable for the discipline of the Church, the provision 
of letters dimissory reciprocal between its several branches, 
and the full change of jurisdiction understood to be secured by 
such transfer. 

VI. Resolved, That this Church also expresses its cordial 
approval of the provision that emigrant members of the 
Church, of good Christian standing, should be furnished with 
testimonials addressed to the Bishops and Pastors of the 
Church in the country to which they may remove. 

Canons authorizing the formation of a Federate 
Council ; respecting the Consecration of Churches ; 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 243 

and on the subject of Divorce, were adopted. The 
latter enactment is as follows ; 

No minister of this Cliurcli shall Bolemnize matrimony in 
any case where there is a divorced wife or husband of either 
party still living; but this Canon shall not be held to apply to 
the innocent party in a divorce for the cause of adultery, or to 
parties once divorced seeking to be united again. 

The Bishop of Missouri was consecrated at this 
session, and Missionary Bishops were elected for 
-Oregon and IS^evada. 

On the whole, in reviewing the proceedings of the 
Convention, it may be said that though the actual 
legislation effected at its session was not so much, 
still its avoidance of direct legislative enactments 
on mooted points may yet prove to have been the 
truest wisdom. Its action with respect to unscrip- 
tural divorce has won for it a general praise. The 
numerous memorials presented to it received a 
patient consideration, though the action resulting 
from them was but trifling in its nature or extent. 
Its debates, of which we have a verbatim record, 
were characterized by dignity and were marked 
with many brilliant passages. As an evidence of 
the substantial unity of the Church, the general 
unanimity of feeling among its members was a most 
gratifying feature of the session. The number of 
clergy had reached two thousand six hundred and 
sixty-two. 



244 THE GENERAL, CONVENTION 



THE COl^YENTIO^ OF 1871. 

Although the importance of this Convention could 
hardly be overestimated, and notwithstanding the 
fact that much of its legislation received further con- 
sideration in 1874, it will be wise in view of the 
fact that these questions are still subjects of discus- 
sion for us to confine our resume to abstracts or 
notices of the completed action of the two Houses, 
avoiding criticism or comment. 

The Convention met in Emmanuel Church, 
Baltimore, Md., on the 4th of October, con- 
tinuing its sessions until the 26th of the same 
month. The House of Bishops sat one day longer 
than the lower House. The sermon at the opening 
service was preached by the Bishop of Yirginia. 
The presence of the Lord Bishop of Lichfield, Eng- 
land, Dr. Selwyn ; the Bishop of l^assau. Dr. Yena- 
bles ; and the Dean of Chester, Dr. Howson, with 
other clergy of the English and Colonial Churches, 
added interest to a session distinguished from the 
outset by a spirit of forbearance, peace, and mutual 
good-will. The Et. Eev. Dr. Benj. Bosworth 
Smith presided in the House of Bishops. In the 
Lower House forty dioceses were represented, and 
one (Central Pennsylvania) created. One hundred 
and sixty-two clerical, and one hundred and thirty- 
eight lay deputies were in attendance. The officers 
of the last House of Deputies were re-elected. The 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUKCJI. 245 

Rev. Dr. W. B. W. Howe was consecrated to the 
Assistant Bishopric of South- Carolina, the Bishop 
of Lichfield preaching the sermon, and the sightless 
Bishop of Sonth-Carolina guiding his hand "wit- 
tingly," in the act of laying on of hands, upon the 
head of his assistant and brother. Early in the 
session (on the fourth day) the following report on 
ritual, accompanied by two resolutions, was trans- 
mitted by the Bishops to the lower House, and 
gave occasion for the most important discussion of 
the session : 

Tlie Committee of Five Bisliops appointed by the House of 
Bisliops, at tlie General Convention of 1868, " To consider 
whether any additional provision for uniformity, by canon or 
otherwise, is practicable and expedient, and to report to the 
next General Convention," having held sundry meetings at 
several different places, at each of which all the members of 
the Committee were present through the entire session ; and 
having, as they believed, given to the subject-matter intrusted 
to them that careful consideration which its importance merits, 
respectfully ask leave to report : 

The resolution under which the Committee was appointed 
raises several questions for examination and answer. Is any 
legislation touching the performance of Divine Service and 
"the Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and 
Ceremonies of the Church" practicable ? If practicable, is it, 
at this time expedient ? If practicable and expedient, shall it 
take the shape of a canon or canons ; or shall it be otherwise 
provided for? And, finally, what phall the actual details of 
legislation be? Assuredly, these are questions that touch the 
Church, and its ministers and members, in many and very 
vital points, and involve many delicate as well as precious 
relations. 

In considering these questions, the Committee have endea- 
vored never to forget that substantial uniformity is entirely 
compatible with very considerable individual liberty ; that 



246 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

non-essentials should never be unduly magnified, and, far less, 
raised to an equality with essentials ; that many troublesome 
and objectionable things are ephemeral in their nature, and 
" perish in the using ;" and that, under any circumstances, 
hasty legislation is ever to be avoided. Nor have they omitted 
to keep in mind the wise words of the Thirty-fourth Article of 
Religion : 

" It is not necessary that traditions and ceremonies be in all 
places one, or utterly alike ; for at all times they have been 
divers, and may be changed according to the diversity of coun- 
tries, times, and men's manners, so that nothing be ordained 
■against God's Word. . . . 

" Every particular or national Church hath authority to or- 
dain, change, and abolish, ceremonies or rites of the Church 
ordained only by man's authority, so that all things be done to 
edifying." 

While, however, the Committee have kept these considera- 
tions in view, it has been and is their unanimous conviction 
that some action of the General Convention, in regard to the 
important matters named in the resolution appointing them, is 
very desirable, if not, indeed, absolutely demanded. Among 
many reasons for this conviction that present themselves, they 
venture to ask attention to the three following : 

First. It is obvious to remark that there are among us great 
and growing ' ' diversities of use " in the performance of Divine 
Service and the offices of the Church. Unless something is 
done, and done soon, in the interests of uniformity, these diver- 
sities bid fair to equal, if they do not exceed, those which, at 
the period of the Anglican Reformation, were regarded as an 
evil to be removed ; and which led to the decision that "the 
whole realm" should have "but one use." They occasion, 
moreover, even now, confusion, trouble, and perplexity among 
our people ; and these evils must increase as their causes are 
multiplied. 

Secondly. It is believed that various services over and 
above those provided in the Book of Common Prayer, or set 
forth in accordance with the provisions of Title I., Canon 13. 
§ XIV. of the Digest, and not coming under the denomination 
of Sunday or other school services, are publicly used in certain 
churches. How far liberty in this reg^arcl is to be allowed, or 



OF THE A-NIEliTCAN CHURCH. 247 

in what respects it is to be restrained, the Committee do not 
undertake to say. It is obvious, however, that any such ser- 
vices are sources of disorder and confusion, in proportion as 
they are framed on principles and embody acts, words, or 
forms — come these from what outside quarter they may — that 
are not in accord v\-ith the " doctrine, discipline, and worship" 
of our own Church, or are foreign to the genius and spirit of 
our services. 

Thirdly. The Committee have reason to believe that, in 
some instances, the services of the Prayer Book are unlawfully 
altered or mutilated, and, in others, are so performed as to 
make it difficult, to say the least, to distinguish them, except 
in the language employed, from those of the Church of Eome. 
Against such wrongs our people have a right to demand pro- 
tection ; and whether they demand it or not, it would seem to 
be a plain and hounden duty to provide for it. 

For these reasons, besides others which it is not necessary to 
rehearse, the Committee unanimously recommend action by 
the present General Convention ; and after maturely weighing 
the different modes in which this recommendation may he car- 
ried out, ihey further unanimously recommend that any action 
which the Convention may take shall be in the form of a 
canon or canons. 

In proceeding to state the various details which they believe 
ought to be made the subjects of such action as has oeen pro- 
posed, the Committee desire to say that, while on the great 
majority of the points presented there has been entire unani- 
mity of opinion, some things are, nevertheless, proposed, and 
others are omitted, which, had each member's individual wish 
regulated the final result, would have been differently dispos- 
ed of. They have strongly felt that uniformity necessarily 
involves the giving up of some things, and the acceptance of 
other things which individuals may desire, on the one hand, 
to retain, or, on the other, to remove. 

The Committee report the followihg as the matters upon 
which they respectfully recommend legislation : 

I. 

They recommend that certain acts in the administration of 
the Holy Communion, and on other occasions of public wor> 



248 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

sliip, hereinafter enumerated, be proliibited by canon, to 
wit : 

(1.) The use of incense. 

(2.) Placing or retaining a crucifix in any part of the church. 

(3.) Carrying a cross in procession in the church. 

(4.) The use of lights on or about the holy table, except 
when necessary. 

(5.) The elevation of the elements in the Holy Communion 
in such manner as to expose them to the view of the people 
as objects toward which adoration is to be made, in or after 
the prayer of consecration, or in the act of administering 
them, or in conveying them to or from the communicants. 

(6.) The mixing of water with the wine as part of the ser- 
vice, or in presence of the congregation. 

(7.) The washing of the priest's hands, or the ablution of 
the vessels, in the presence of the congregation. 

(8.) Bowings, crossings, genuflections, prostrations, reveren- 
ces, bowing down upon or kissing the holy table, and kneel- 
ing, except as allowed, provided for, or directed, by rubric 
or canon ; it being provided that reverence at the mention 
of the name of the Lord Jesus is not intended to be disal- 
lowed ; and it being further provided that private personal 
devotion, before or after official ministration, is not to be 
understood to include or justify any of the acts prohibited. 

(9.) The celebration or receiving of the Holy Communion by 
any Bishop or priest when no person receives with him. 

(10.) Employing or permitting any person or persons not in 
Holy Orders to assist the minister in any part of the order 
for the administration of the Holy Communion. 

(11.) Using, at any administration of the Holy Communion, 
any prayers, collects, gospels, or epistles, other than those 
provided in the Book of Common Prayer, or under § XIV. 
of Canon 13 of Title I. of the Digest. 

They further recommend here : 

(1.) That no Rector of a Parish or other minister shall be 
allowed to introduce the Choral Service without the consent- 
ing vote of the Vestry, or contrary to the prohibition of the 
Bishop. 

(2.) That no surpliced choir shall be employed except under 
the same limitations ; and when such choirs are employed, 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 249 

tlie only addition to their ordinary attire shall be a surplice 
reaching to the ankles. 

(3.) That no chancel shall be allowed to be so arranged as to 
prevent the minister from officiating at the right end of the 
tio\y table. It is to be noted that a credence -table is lawful. 

II. 

The Committee further recommend that canonical provision 
be made touching the dress appropriate to clergymen minis- 
iering in the congregation ; and that the only vestments de- 
clared to be appropriate to clergymen so ministering be : 

(1.) For bishops, the present episcopal robes. 

(2.) For all ministers, a white surplice ; a black or white 
«tole ; a black cassock not reaching below the ankles ; a 
black gown ; and bands. 

They also recommend that provision be made : 

(1.) That on occasions of services, where expediency or ne- 
cessity of health may require it, the university cap may be 
used. 

(2.) That candidates for orders, who are licensed to act as 
lay readers, may use the academical black gown. 

III. 

In addition to the canonical provisions now recommended, 
and in consideration of the fact that " nothing can be so plain- 
ly set forth but doubts may arise in the use and practice of the 
same," the Committee further unanimously recommend that 
some action be taken to carry out, in such manner as may se- 
cure its observance, the principle declared in the second reso- 
lution sent to this House by the House of Clerical and Lay 
Deputies, at the General Convention of 1868, to wit ; Thai, 
"in all matters doubtful, reference shall be mad^ to the Ordi- 
nary, and no changes shall be made agajnpt ^he gOfilj counsel 
and judgment of the Bishop." 

In conclusion, the Committee recommend the adoption of 
the following resolutions : 

Resolved, That this report be conmuini( ated to the House of 
Clerical and Lay Deputies. 

Resolved, the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies concur- 
ring. That a Joint Committee, consisting of thpee Bishops, three 



250 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Presbyters, and three Laymen, be appointed, to whom the 
subject-matter of this Report shall be referred, with directions 
to report to this Convention, at as early a day as practicable, 
such canons as they may deem necessary in the premises. 
All which is respectfully submitted. 

Alfred Lee, 

J. Williams, 

T. M. Clark, 

W. H. Odenheimer, 

J. B. Kerfoot. 

Resohed, That in the gravity of the subject and its bear- 
ings, this House is unprepared for immediate action on the 
Report submitted by its Committee on Ritual Uniformity, 
without previous consideration of the same in joint Committee 
of the two Houses of Convention. 

Resolved, the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies concurring, 
That a joint Committee be appointed for the consideration of 
the above-named Report of the Committee of the House of 
Bishops concerning Ritual, and to report if any, and, if any, 
what, action may properly be taken in the premises. 

The subject-matter of the above, together with a 
resolution to appoint the proposed committee by 
ballot, having been made the order of the day, the 
Rev. Cleland K. Nelson, D.D., of the Diocese of 
Maryland, oJEfered the following preamble and reso- 
lution : 

Whereas, In General Convention of 1868 the House of Cleri- 
cal and Lay Deputies did request of the House of Bishops the 
setting forth of such additional rubrics in the Book of Common 
Prayer as in their judgment may be deemed necessary ; and, 
whereas, the House of Bishops have not complied with the 
above-mentioned request, therefore be ;t 

Resolved, That the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies do 
hereby, in reply to Message No. 5, from the House of Bishops, 
most respectfully and affectionately renew the request that 
our Right Reverend Fathers assembled at the House of Bishops 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 251 

prepare and propose for the consideration of the House of 
Clerical and Lay Deputies some well-digested scheme of such 
additional rubrics in the Book of Common Prayer, or such 
further canonical legislation as, in their judgment, they may 
deem necessary. 

The Rev. William H. Clarke, of the Diocese of 
Georgia, moved to amend the above by striking out 
all after the word "Resolved," and inserting instead 
thereof the words — 

I. That the House of Deputies do not concur in the resolu- 
tion communicated in Message No. 5, from the House of 
Bishops. 

II. Resolved, That this House request the House of Bishops 
to take definite action upon the report of their Committee on 
Ritual, and communicate the result to this House for their con- 
sideration. 

The Rev. E. Edwards Beardsley, D.D., of the 
Diocese of Connecticut, offered the following reso- 
lution as a substitute for the whole matter before 
the House, which was finally adopted : 

Resolved, That this House concurs in the resolution con- 
tained in Message No. 5, from the House of Bishops, asking 
the appointment of a joint committee to consider the Report 
on Ritual Uniformity sent to this House with said Message. 

The resolution itself, as amended, was then 
adopted. After no little discussion respecting the 
choice of the members on the part of the lower 
House, of the committee contemplated in the above 
resolutions, the joint committee appointed to con- 
sider and report upon the report on Ritual Unifor- 
mity made to the House of Bishops by a com- 



252 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

mittee of tlie said House of Bishops, reported tlie 
accompanying Canon and resolution for action 
thereon by the two Houses of Convention : 

Canon of Ritual. 

§ 1. This Churcli, holding fast its liberty in Christ its Head, 
recognizes no other law of Ritual than such as it shall have 
itself accepted or provided ; meaning thereby in no wise to 
prejudice or arraign the different rites, usages, customs, or 
laws of other branches of the Church of Christ. 

§ 2. The provisions for Ritual in this Church are : 

1. The Book of Common Prayer, with the Offices and 
Ordinal thereto appended, as adapted to the use of 
this Church by additions, omissions, or other altera- 
tions from time to time constitutionally made. 

2. The Canons of the Church of England in use in the 
American Provinces before the year 1789, and not 
subsequently superseded, altered, or repealed, by 
legislation, General or Diocesan, of this Church. 

3. The Canonical or other regular legislative or judicial 
action or decisions of this Church, in its Conventions, 
General or Diocesan, or by its duly constituted au- 
thorities. 

§ 3. For the greater uniformity and simplicity of the public 
worship of this Church — for the more effectual enforcement of 
due habits of solemn reverence in its congregations, and out 
of considerate regard to the conditions under which the exten- 
sion of the Church is now and hereafter to take place — it is 
hereby declared and provided, that in all questions arising con- 
cerning Ritual Observance, the Administration of the Law of 
Ritual of this Church, whether for enforcement or for restric- 
tion, appertains to the office and duty of the Ordinary, wlio.-:e 
official written determination, whether of his own motion, or 
at the official demand either of a Rector or of a Vestry, shall be 
held to be the settlement of any question which shall at any 
time arise concerning Ritual : Provided, however, that contra- 
dictory determinations shall be subject, on memorial or other- 
wise, to revision by the House of Bishops, under such rules 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. ' ^53 

and regulations for bringing the same before tbem, as said 
House of Bishops shall prescribe. 

William Rollinson Whittingham, 

BisJiop of Marylarid. 

William Cooper Mead, 
Chairman of the Committee on the part of the House of Deputies. 



Resolution adopted by the Joint Committee on Ritual. 

Resolved, That a joint committee of three of each Order be 
appointed to examine the Canons of the Church of England, 
of 1603, and report to the next General Convention what por- 
tions were in use in the American Provinces in the year 1789, 
and how far the same have been modified by repeal, or altera- 
tion, or other mode, by action of this Church, in its Conven- 
tions, General or Diocesan^ and whether any portion requires 
modification or repeal. 

The Eev. Daniel E. Goodwin, D.D., LL.D., of 
the Diocese of Pennsylvania, offered the following 
amendment to the Canon on Kitual reported by 
the joint committee, to wit : 

Resolved, That the proposed Canon be amended by inserting 
in the first section, after the word " Provided," the words "in 
her Canons and Book of Common Prayer," and by striking out 
the whole of the second section. 

The Eev. William Cooper Mead, D.D., of the 
Diocese of Connecticut, moved as an amendment 
to the amendment to the resolution reported by the 
joint committee on the report made to the House 
of Bishops on Eitual, to strike out Subsection [2] 
of § II. of the Canon of Eitual, and to insert after 
the words " constituted authorities" in Subsection 
[3] the words " and under this head," etc., so that 
the Canon, as amended, would read : 



254 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



Canon of Ritual. 

§ 1. [As reported by tlie joint committee.] 

§ 2. The provisions for Ritual in this Church are ; 

1. [As reported.] 

2. [As reported, with the follo"wing addition :] 

And under this head the following acts in the administration 
of the Holy Communion, and on other occasions of public 
worship, are prohibited ; 

(1.) The use of Incense. 

(2.) Placing or retaining a Crucifix in any part of the Church. 

(3.) The use of lights on or about the Holy Table, except 
when necessary. 

(4.) The elevation of the elements in the Holy Communion 
in such manner as to expose them to the view of the people as 
objects toward which adoration is to be made, in or after the 
prayer of Consecration, or in the act of administering them, or 
in conveying them to or from the communicants. 

(5.) The mixing of water with the wine as part of the ser- 
vice. 

(6.) The washing of the Priest's hands, or the ablution of 
the vessels, as part of the service. 

(7.) Bowings, crossings, genuflections, prostrations, reve- 
rences, bowing down upon or kissing the Holy Table, and kneel- 
ing, except as allowed, provided for, or directed by rubric or can- 
on ; it being provided that reverence at the mention of the name 
of the Lord Jesus is not intended to be disallowed ; and it being 
further provided that private personal devotion, before or after 
official ministration, is not to be understood to include or jus- 
tify any of the acts prohibited. 

(8.) The celebration or receiving of the Holy Communion, 
by any Bishop or Priest when no person receives with him. 

(9.) Employing or permitting any person or persons not in 
Holy Orders to assist the Minister in any part of the Order for 
the Administration of the Holy Communion. 

(10.) Using, at any administration of the Holy Communion, 
any Prayers, Collects, Gospels, or Epistles, other than those 
provided in the Book of Common Prayer, or under § XIV. of 
Canon 13 of Title I. of the Digest. 

§ 3. [As reported by the joint committee.] 



OF THE AMEKICAN CHURCH. 255 

The Bev. Dr. Godwin withdrew his amendment, 
and accepted that offered by the Eev. Dr. Mead in 
its stead. 

The Eev. Philander K. Cady, D.D., of the Dio- 
cese of New- York, offered the following amend- 
ment to the amendment offered by the Rev. Dr. 
Mead, to wit, to strike out all of the Canon of 
Eitual as reported, and substitute therefor as fol- 
lows : 

Canon of Ritual. 

In all matters of Ritual tliat are doubtful, reference shall be 
made to the Ordinary, and no changes shall be made against 
the godly counsel and judgment of the Bishop. 

Mr. Bernard Carter, of the Diocese of Maryland, 
moved the indefinite postponement of the whole 
subject under consideration. 

Pending action on this motion. Message 'No, 50 
from the House of Bishops informed 

the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies that it has, in conform- 
ity with the recommendation of the Joint Committee on Ritual 
Uniformity, adopted the following Canon of Ritual, to be 

Canon — . 

§ I. This Church, holding fast its liberty in Christ its Head, 
recognizes no other law of ritual than such as it shall have 
itself accepted or provided ; meaning thereby in no wise to 
prejudice or arraign the differing rights, usages, customs, or 
laws of other branches of the Church of Christ. 

§ II. The provisions for Ritual in this Church are : 

1. The Book of Common Prayer, with the Offices and 
Ordinal thereto appended, as adapted to the use of 
this Church by additions, omissions, or other altera- 
tions from time to time constitutionally made. 

2. The Canons of the Church of England agreed upon 
in 1603, and in use in the American Provinces and 



256 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

States before tlie year 1789, and not subsequently 
superseded, altered, or repealed, by legislation. General 
or Diocesan, of tliis Church. 
3. The Canonical or other regular legislative or judicial 
action or decisions of this Church, in its Conven- 
tions, General or Diocesan, or by its duly constituted 
authorities. 
§ III. For the greater uniformity and simplicity of the pub- 
lic worship of this Church, for the more effectual enforcement 
of due habits of solemn reverence in its congregations, and 
out of considerate regard to the conditions under which the 
extension of the Church is now and hereafter to take place, it 
is hereby declared and provided, that in all questions arising 
concerning Bitual Observance, the Administration of the Law 
of Ritual of this Church, whether for enforcement or for re- 
striction, appertains to the office and duty of the Ordinary, 
whose official written determination, whether of his own 
motion, or at the official demand either of a Rector or of a 
Vestry, shall be held to be the settlement of any question 
which shall at any time arise concerning Ritual ; Provided, 
however, that contradictory determinations shall be subject, on 
memorial or otherwise, to revision by the House of Bishops, 
under such rules and regulations for bringing the same before 
them as said House of Bishops shall prescribe. 

Resolved, the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies concurring. 
That a joint committee of three of each order be appointed to 
examine the Canons of the Church of England, of 1603, and 
report to the next General Convention what portions were in 
use in the American States in the year 1789, and how far the 
same have been modified by repeal, or alteration, or other 
mode, by action of this Church, in its Conventions, General or 
Diocesan, and whether any portion requires modification or re- 
peal. 

The House having resnmed consideration of the 
Eeport on Eitiial, leave of the House was granted 
to Mr. Bernard Carter to withdraw his motion of 
indefinite postponement of the whole subject under 
consideration, offered on the sixteenth day of the 



OF THE AMElilCAN CilURCn. 257 

session, whereupon Rev. Dr. Cady withdrew the 
amendment offered by him to the amendment 
offered by the Rev. Dr. Mead. 

The Rev. Abner Jackson, D.D., LL.D., of the 
Diocese of Connecticut, offered the following 
amendment to the amendment offered by the Rev. 
Dr. Mead, to wit : 

Resolved, tlie House of Bishops concurring, That a joint 
committee, consisting of five Bishops, five presbyters, and 
five laymen, be appointed, to sit during the recess of this Con- 
vention, in order to ascertain and determine clearly what is the 
existing Law of Ritual in this Church ; and then to inquire 
whether any, and if any, what, further provision is required 
for securing the due performance of Divine Service, and re- 
port the same to the next General Convention, for its action 
thereon. 

At a later stage of the discussion leave was rerus- 
ed to the Rev. Dr. Jackson to withdraw his amend- 
ment, which was then defeated by a vote of 20 nays 
to 14 yeas and 6 divided of the clerical order, and 
21 nays to 12 ayes and 2 divided of the lay dele- 
gations. 

Mr. S. Corning Judd, of the Diocese of Illinois, 
then moved to amend the amendment before the 
House (that offered by Rev. Dr. Mead) by striking 
out, in § I., the words " recognizes no other law of 
ritual than such as it shall have itself accepted or 
provided," and " thereby," and by inserting before 
the word "meaning," in said section, the word 
" and," and adding after the words " Church of 
Christ," the words " declares as follows," so that 
the section as amended would read : 



258 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Canon of Ritual. 

§ I. Tliis Churcli, holding fast its liberty in Christ its Head, 
and meaning in no wise to prejudice or arraign the differing 
rites, usages, customs, or laws of other branches of the Church 
of Christ, declares as follows, etc. 

Tlie Kev. John H. Egar, of the Diocese of Pitts- 
burgh, offered the following as a substitute for the 
amendments under consideration, to wit : 

Canon of Ritual. 

When Ritual observances are called in question before the 
Ordinary, and such observances are not expressly provided for 
or prohibited by the Book of Common Prayer, or the Constitu- 
tion or Canons of this Church, recourse may be had for the es- 
tablishment of precedent to the Rubrics and Canons which 
were in force, and to the usage which was allowed in the 
Church of England, while this Church was a part of said 
Church, — that is to say, after the Reformation and before the 
year 1776 : Provided that no Rubrics or Canons of the said 
Church of England shall be considered as in any way binding, 
which have been superseded by the legislation of the General 
Convention of this Church. 

The question being taken on the substitute offered 
by the Rev. Mr. Egar, it was lost. 

Mr. William Cornwall, of the Diocese of Ken- 
tucky, offered the following as a substitute for the 
amendments before the House, to wit : 

Canon op Ritual. 

§ I. This Church, holding fast its liberty in Christ its Head, 
recognizes no other law of ritual than such as it shall have it- 
self accepted or provided ; meaning thereby in no wise to pre- 
judice or arraign the diflfering rites, usages, customs, or laws 
of other branches of the Church of Christ. 

§ n. the provisions for Ritual in this Church are : 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 259 

Tlie Book of Common Prayer, witli the Offices and Ordinal 
thereto appended, as adapted to the use of this Church by 
additions, omissions, or other alterations from time to time con- 
Btitutionally made. 

Every minister of tins Church shall be liable to presentment 
and trial for using any ritual, acts, or observances which teach 
or symbolize any doctrine contrary to that held by the Protest- 
ant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. 

Resolved, That this Canon shall be placed after Subsection 
[2] of Canon 2, of Title I. of the Digest of the Canons. 

The question being taken on the substitute offer- 
ed bj Mr. Cornwall, it was lost. 

The Kev. John McIS'amara, D.D., of the Diocese 
of ^Nebraska, moved to lay the whole subject under 
discussion on the table ; w^hich motion was lost. 

The question then recurring on the amendment 
offered by Mr. Judd, it was lost. 

Mr. George W. Race, of the Diocese of Louisiana, 
moved to strike out the second subsection of the 
amended Canon as proposed by the Kev. Mr. Mead, 
to wit, the words : 

2. The Canons of the Church of England, agreed upon in 
1603, and in use in the American Colonies or States before the 
year 1789, and not subsequently superseded, altered, or repeal- 
ed by legislation, General or Diocesan, of this Church. 

Which motion was lost. 

The question then recurring on the amendment 
proposed by the Rev. Mr. Mead, there were 11 
dioceses voting aye, 25 nay, and 4 divided, of the 
clerical order ; and 21 nays, 10 ayes, and 4 divided 
of the laity. 

The report of the joint committee was there' 
upon, on motion, laid on the table. 



260 THE GEI^ERAL CONVENTION 

It was moved by the Rev. Benjamin I. Ilaight, 
D.D., LL.D., that the House '• concur with the 
House of Bishops in Message No. 50." 

Mr. William Welsh, of the Diocese of Pennsyl- 
vania, moved to amend the Canon communicated to 
the House by Message No. 50, from the House of 
Bishops, by striking out the words in § III. follow- 
ing the word ''Provided,'^'' and inserting instead the 
words " that said determination shall have moral 
force, but no legal effect, unless in the case of a trial 
and judgment by a legally constituted court, and 
provided, also, that the operation of this Canon 
shall cease at the close of the next General Con- 
vention ;" which motion was lost. 

The Rev. Meyer Lewin, D.D., of the Diocese of 
Maryland, moved to amend the Canon communi- 
ated in Message No. 50, from the House of Bishops, 
by striking out " 1603 " from § II., and " a " before 
"Rector," and " a " before '' Yestry," and inserting 
the word ''the" before "Rector," and "the" be- 
fore " Yestry." 

Mr. Samuel B. Churchill, of the Diocese of Ken- 
tucky, moved to amend the amendment offered by 
the clerical deputy from Maryland, as follows : 



Amend by striking out Subsection 3, and strike out § III., 
and insert in lieu thereof the following ; 

Every minister in this Church shall be liable to presentment 
and trial for using any Ritual acts or observances which teach 
or symbolize any doctrine contrary to that held by the Protest- 
ant Episcopal Church of the United States of America, and that 
the authorities of the Church shall take steps, with all reason- 
able promptness, to suppress all services, ceremonies, or acts 



OF THE AMER1CA2T CHURCH. 261 

which symbolize or teach the doctrine commonly known as 
Transubstantiation. 

"Which was lost. 

The question recurring on the amendment offer- 
ed by the clerical deputy from Maryland, it was 
lost. 

The question then recurred on the motion of con- 
currence with the House of Bishops, which was lost. 

There were 40 dioceses represented by clerical 
votes, of which 20 dioceses voted in the affirmative, 
13 dioceses in the negative, and 7 dioceses divided. 

There were 34 dioceses represented by lay votes, of 
which 18 dioceses voted in the affirmative, 14 dio- 
ceses in the negative, and 2 dioceses were divided. 

The Bishops on the closing day of the session 
sent the following message (No. 71) : 

The House of Bishops informs the House of Clerical and Lay 
Deputies that it has adopted the following resolution : 

Besohed, the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies concurring, 
That the following Canon be adopted and enacted, to be enti- 
tled 

Canon — . 

The elevation of the elements in the Holy Communion in 
such manner as to expose them to the view of the people as 
objects toward which adoration is to be made, in or after the 
Prayer of Consecration, or in the act of administering them, or 
in carrying them to or from the communicants, and any gesture, 
posture, or act implying such adoration ; and any ceremony 
not prescribed as part of the Order of the Administration of 
the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion, in the Book of Com- 
mon Prayer, and the celebration or reception of the Holy Com- 
munion by any Bishop or Priest when no person receives with 
him ; likewise the use, at any administration of the Holy Com- 
munion, of any Hymns, Prayers, Collects, Epistles, or Gospels, 



262 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

other than those appointed in the authorized formularies of the 
Church, or under ^ XIV. of Canon 13 of Title I. of the Digest, 
are hereby forbidden. 

On the question of concurrence, the vote "being 
taken by dioceses and orders, there were 39 dio- 
ceses represented by clerical deputies, of which IT 
dioceses voted in the affirmative, 18 dioceses voted 
in the negative, and 4 dioceses were divided. Of 
the laity there were 33 dioceses represented, of 
which 18 dioceses voted in the affirmative, 12 dio- 
ceses voted in the negative, and there were 3 dio- 
ceses divided. The resolution of concurrence was 
lost for lack of concurrence of orders. 

The Kev. Theodore B. Lyman, D.D., of the Dio- 
cese of California, offered the following resolutions : 

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That this Con- 
vention hereby expresses its decided condemnation of all cere- 
monies, observances, and practices which are fitted to express a 
doctrine foreign to that set forth in the authorized standards of 
this Church. 

Hesohed, That in the judgment of this House the paternal 
counsel and advice of the Right Reverend Fathers, the Bishops 
of the Church, is deemed sufficient at this time to secure the 
suppression of all that is irregular and unseemly, and to pro- 
mote greater uniformity in conducting the public worship of 
the Church, and in the administration of the Holy Sacraments. 

A division of the question having been called for, 
the resolutions were successively adopted with but 
little, if any, opposition. 

In the course of this protracted and brilliant dis- 
cussion, and as a part of a speech of great eloquence 
and power, the Rev. Dr. DeKoven of Wisconsin, 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 263 

uttered the following words, which are here re- 
corded as a part of the history of this session : 

It is impossible for me, in the space allowed, to go into tlie 
doctrine of tlie Real Presence. 1 only want to say something 
with regard to it, and then something with respect to another 
question. 

First of all, the objection that I have to this Canon,* or 
any other like it, is that it bears upon doctrine, and seems to 
settle it in one direction. Now questions of doctrine should 
not be settled by any Canon which does not bear directly upon 
doctrine. Our Church has always acted on this principle. It 
has a Canon providing that if people teach false doctrine they 
should be tried and suspended, or punished in accordance with 
that Canon ; and the objection to this is that it implies that 
people teach false doctrine by certain ceremonies and then 
punishes them, where, perhaps, they use those ceremonies 
without teaching false doctrine. I want to do what my brother 
from Wisconsin did yesterday, only in another direction ; I 
want to give any body in this House the opportunity of pre- 
senting me for false doctrine if he wishes ; and, in order to do 
BO I choose some language which is rather balder and bolder 
than any I myself would use excepting in a company of theolo- 
gians, and I use this language for another purpose which I will 
explain presently. I believe in — and this will be printed to- 
morrow, and I will write it out, if necessary, for any body who 
wants to use it — I believe in "the Real, Actual Presence of our 
Lord under the form of bread and wine upon the altars of our 
churches." I myself adore, and would, if it were necessary or 
my duty, "teach my people to adore Christ present in the ele- 
ments under the form of bread and wine." And I use these 
words because they are a bold statement of the doctrine of the 
Real Presence ; but I use them for another reason ; they are 
adjudicated words ; they are words which, used by a divine of 
the Church of England, have been tried in the highest ecclesi- 
astical court of England, and have been decided by that eccle- 



*That communicated in Message No. 71, from the House of 
Bishops. 



264 THE GENERAL CONVENTIO:^ 

siaatical court to come witliin the limits of the truth held in the 
Church of England. So much so that that very Sir Robert Phil, 
limore, whose judicial decisions have been quoted here before, 
has decided that " if he were to pronounce these words wrong " 
— now I read his very language — * ' I should be passing sentence, 
in my opinion, upon a long roll of illustrious divines who have 
adorned our University and fought the good fight of our Church 
from Ridley" — whom the clerical delegate from Massachusetts 
quoted as entertaining his view — " from Ridley to Keble — from 
the divine whose martyrdom the cross of Oxford commemo- 
rates, to the divine in whose honor that University .has just 
founded her last college."* 

The following " Declaration" was communicated 
to the Honse of Clerical and Lay Deputies for the 
information of that body concerning the action of 
the Bishops in a matter of much gravity, and of 
great interest to both Houses : 

Declaration of the Bishops in Council. 

October 11, 1871. 
We, the subscribers, Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the United States, being asked, in order to the quiet- 
ing of the consciences of sundry members of the said Church, 
to declare our conviction as to the meaning of the word 
" Regenerate" in the Offices for the Ministration of Baptism of 
Infants, do declare that, in our opinion, the word ' ' Regene- 
rate" is not there so used as to determine that a moral change 
in the subject oi baptism is wrought in the sacrament. 
(Signed) B. B. Smith, Bishop of Kentucky. 

Chas. p. McIlvaine, Bishop of the Diocese of 

Ohio. 
Saml. a. McCoskry, Bishop of Michigan. 
William R. Whittingham, Bishop of Mary- 
land. 
Alfred Lee, Bishop of the Diocese of Dela- 
ware. 

* Debates of the House of Deputies, pp. 505, 506. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 265 

John Johns, Bisliop of the Diocese of Virginia. 

Manton Eastburn, Bishop of the Diocese of 
Massachusetts. 

W. M. Green, Bishop of Mississippi. 

John Payne, Missionary Bishop of Cape Pal- 
mas, Africa. 

John Williams, Bishop of Connecticut. 

Henry J. Whitehouse, Bishop of Illinois. 

Thomas F. Davis, Bisliop of South-Carolina. 

Thomas Atkinson, Bishop of North-Carolina. 

Wm. Ingraham Kip, Bishop of California. 

Henry W. Lee, Bishop of the Diocese of Iowa. 

Horatio Potter, Bishop of New-York. 

Thomas M. Clark, Bishop of Rhode Island. 

Alexander Gregg, Bishop of Texas, 

G. T. Bedell, Assistant Bishop of the Diocese 
of Ohio. 

H, B. Whipple, Bishop of Minnesota. 

Henry C. Lay, Bishop of Easton. 

Jos. G. Talbot, Assistant Bishop of Indiana. 

Wm. Bacon Stevens, Bishop of the Diocese of 
Pennsylvania. 

Richard H. Wilmer, Bishop of Alabama. 

Thomas H. Vail, Bishop of the Diocese of 
Kansas. 

A. Cleveland Coxe, Bishop of Western New- 
York. 

Charles Todd Quintard, Bishop of Tennessee. 

Robert H. Clarkson, Bishop of Nebraska. 

George M. Randall, Missionary Bishop of 
Colorado. 

John B. Kerfoot, Bishop of Pittsburgh. 

J. P. B. Wilmer, Bishop of Louisiana. 

Geo. David Cummins, Assistant Bishop of 
Kentucky. 

William E. Armitage, Bishop of Wisconsin. 

Henry A. Neely, Bishop of Maine. 

Daniel S. Tuttle, Missionary Bishop of Mon- 
tana. 

John W. Beckwith, Bishop of Georgia. 



266 THE GENERAL GOKVENTION" 

Francis M. Whitti.e, Assistant Bishop of tlie 
Diocese of Virginia. 

W. H. A. BissELL, Bishop of Vermont. 

C. F. Robertson, Bishop of Missouri. 

B. WiSTAR Morris, Missionary Bishop of Ore- 
gon. 

A. N. LiTTLEJOHN, Bishop of Long Island. 

Wm. Croswell Doane, Bishop of Albany. 

F. D. Huntington, Bishop of Central New- 
York. 

O. W. Whitaker, Missionary Bishop of 
Nevada. 

Henry N. Pierce, Missionary Bishop of 
Arkansas and the Indian Territory. 

William W. Niles, Bishop of New-Hampshire. 

William Pinkney, Assistant Bishop of Mary- 
land. 

W. B. W. Howe, Assistant Bishop of South- 
Carolina. 
Attest : Henry C. Potter, Secretary. 
Oct. 12, 1871. 

The business of the fifth day, October 9th, was 
stayed that prayers might be offered '' in behalf of 
jthe great city of Chicago," then " suffering under 
the calamity of fire," and in behalf of " its inhabi- 
tants who are houseless and homeless under the 
visitation of Almighty God." On the evening of 
the same day, after a sermon by the Lord Bishop of 
Lichfield, an offering of $2190.94 was made in 
behalf of the sufferers, among the very first of that 
outpouring of wealth by which the world itself 
sought to show its sympathy with the necessities of 
this doomed city. At a later day the sufferers by 
fire in Wisconsin and Michigan were commended 
to the charity of the Church. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 267 

In the matter of the Hymnal the following ac- 
tion was iinally taken : 

Resolved, That the Hymnal reported by the Joint Commit- 
tee of this Gejieral Convention be authorized for use in this 
Church, and that no other Hymns be allowed in the Public 
Worship of this Church, except such as are now ordinarily 
bound up with the Book of Common Prayer. 

Resolved, That this Hymnal, when finally corrected by the 
Committee thereon, shall be free to be printed and published 
by all responsible publishers who shall obtain a license to that 
effect from the trustees of the Fund for the Relief of Widows 
and Orphans of Deceased Clergymen, and of Aged, Infirm, and 
Disabled Clergymen, and who shall assure to such trustees a 
payment, to be applied for the uses of said fund, equivalent to 
ten per cent upon the retail selling price ; and that the copy- 
right of the Hymnal be vested in said trustees. 

Resolved, That the first of the foregoing resolutions shall 
take effect on the Feast of the Epiphany, 1873. 

Resolved, That this Hymnal shall not be bound up with the 
Book of Common Prayer, until order to that effect shall be 
taken by the General Convention. 

Resolved, That the Committee on the Hymnody of the 
Church shall be continued, with instructions to make such 
alterations in the text of the Hymnal now adopted, as may be 
needed in order to secure accuracy and literary completeness. 

Resolved, That suggestions as to the introduction of Hymns 
into this Hymnal, or the omission of Hymns from it, may be 
submitted to the Committee until Tuesday, October 17, 1871, 
at 3 o'clock, and that the Committee be requested to report 
their judgment thereon before the adjournment of this Con- 
vention. 

Resolved, That if the said supplementary report shall be 
adopted by the two Houses of the General Convention, the 
Committee shall be thereby instructed to amend the Hymnal 
accordingly. 

At the conclusion of the time above named, the 
Committee on the Hymnal, who were authorized 



268 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

to receive suggestions as to the omission of Hymns 
from the Hymnal, and the addition of Hymns 
thereto, reported that they had been greatly aided 
in the work of revision by contributions which have 
been offered by members of the Convention. A 
re-examination of the Hymnal disclosed several 
literary blemishes and errors of typography, which 
were to be corrected before the book was printed 
for the use of the Church. 

In order to make room for additional Hymns, and believing 
that their omission will not impair tlie value of the collection, 
the Committee recommend that the following Hymns be re- 
moved from the Hymnal, namely, Hymns 11, 73, 98, 124, 193, 
209, 250, 315, 367, 441, 492,— eleven in all. 

In compliance with the earnest wish of many persons, the 
Committee have inserted several additional Hymns, which 
have been carefully selected from a large amount of material 
kindly placed in their hands, most of which have been widely 
adopted in the Church of England, and have become endeared 
to our congregations by frequent use during the last three 
years, under the sanction of the authorities of the Church. 

The Committee assure the Convention that nothing will be 
found in the Hymnal, as thus revised, which can offend a re- 
fined Christian taste, and they are confident that in no case has 
an expression been admitted that is not in accordance with the 
doctrines of our Communion, and the teachings of the Book of 
Common Prayer. 

The Committee were instructed to amend the 
Hymnal accordingly, and they were further di- 
rected to arrange for and supervise the printing of 
the first edition. 

With reference to an inquiry referred to the Com- 
mittee on Canons, whether the conjunctive " and " 
between the words " clerical " and '' lay''^ in Art. 2 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 269 

of the Constitution, was not an unauthorized sub- 
stitution for the disjunctive " <?/'/" it was ascertained 
that in the original document, containing the lirst 
Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
'the United States of America, bearing date on the 
second day of October, 1789, the clause referred to 
is as follows : " In all questions when required by 
the clerical or lay representation from any State ;" 
that the word " (?r" was uniformly used until the 
year 1808 ; and that since that period, the word 
" and " has been printed instead of " or ;" that the 
original text of the Constitution has not been 
changed in the mode prescribed by the Constitu- 
tion ; and that the alteration was evidently a typo- 
graphical error, and is unauthorized. 

The Secretary, in all future publications of the 
Constitution, was instructed to cause the word 
" or" to be printed between the words " clerical " 
and " lay^'^ in the second article of the Constitution, 
instead of the word " andP 

The proposed change in Art. 5 of the Constitu- 
tion, removing restrictions upon the division of 
dioceses, was ratified, and further amendments in 
Arts. 5 and 4 laid over for the final action of the Con- 
vention of 1874. Arkansas was admitted into 
union. The revision of the canons relating to 
candidates for orders was thoroughly effected. The 
attendance of delegates from convocations in the 
missionary jurisdictions was permitted. Expres- 
sions of sympathy with the disestablished Church 
of Ireland were adopted. The new cycle com- 
pleting the century in the Calendar was finally 



270 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

ratified. A new standard Prayer Book was 
adopted, and the committee thereon continued to 
report a table of lessons for week-days in Lent. A 
new Indian jurisdiction was established under the 
title " Niobrara," with the following boundaries : 
On the east by the Missouri river ; on the south by 
the State of Nebraska; on the west by 104th 
meridian, the territories of Wyoming and Nebras- 
ka ; on the north by 46th degree of north latitude, 
and including the several Indian reservations on 
the left bank of the Missouri river, north and east 
of the said river. 

The Jubilee of the Domestic and Foreign Mis- 
sionary Society of the Church was celebrated with 
solemn services. Bishop Payne, of West-Africa, 
resigned his Episcopate, and the effort to fill his 
place failed on account of the unwillingness of the 
House of Deputies to suffer the loss of the services 
of Dr. William Hobart Hare, who had been nomi- 
nated, as secretary of the foreign missionary work. 
A standing committee on Indian affairs was ap- 
pointed. The important matters of the Italian 
Reform movement and the intercommunion with 
the Eastern Church received due attention. Dean 
Howson addressed the House of Deputies with 
reference to the movement in Italy for the refor- 
mation of the Church, and an able and exhaustive 
report on the Eastern Church question appears in 
the Appendix. The use by congregations of 
foreigners of formularies in their vernacular 
tongue, in harmony with the doctrine, discipline, 
and worship of the Church was allowed at the 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 271 

discretion of each Diocesan. The " introduction 
of any notation, punctuation, or other deviation 
from the Standard " Prayer Book was pronounced 
unlawful. 

The Committee on the State of the Cliurch 
closed their report as follows : 

We can not close this report witliout expressing our un- 
feigned pleasure at the scene presented to our eyes to-day, tlie 
Cliurcli never more united during any period of her national 
history than at this hour. We have seen how God's constrain- 
ing grace, guiding hand, and tender love are stronger than 
our doubts, alienations, and fears. We can not but rejoice in 
the fact that in this great Triennial General Council, the strife 
has been not, as so many predicted, to destroy our goodly 
heritage and devour one another, but to see who can be most 
forbearing, indulgent, kindly, and magnanimous, and yet pre- 
serve his conscience pure and his convictions of duty clear, 
his heart ready for whatever grace and blessing may be vouch- 
safed, and his hands outstretched for whatever work may be 
assigned him. Let God's holy name ever be praised for " the 
unspeakable gift" of that " charity which is the very bond of 
perfectness." 

The important questions of the employment of an 
order of " Evangelists," and the organization of the 
services of Christian, women, were discussed with 
evident approval. Memorials from the Dioceses of 
Texas and California, asking for permission to elect 
Assistant Bishops, on the ground of extent of terri- 
tory, were received with favor, and the relief de- 
sired allowed. 

The House of Bishops was " solicited to take 
such measures for an early increase of the number 
of Chief Pastors in our missionary field as they in 
their judgment may deem wise and well, so that 



272 THE GENERAL CONVENTION" 

those regions whicli are now insufficiently supplied 
may enjoy a due share of Episcopal oversight." 

The Presiding Bishop was directed by the Rouse 
of Bishops, on motion of the Bishop of ISTew-York, 
" to return to the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of 
"Winchester a courteous and brotherly acknowledg- 
ment of his communication relating to a revision 
of the English of the Holy Scriptures, stating that 
this House, having had no part in originating or or- 
ganizing the said work of revision, is not at present 
in a condition to deliver any judgment respecting 
it, and at the same time expressing the disposition 
of this House to consider with candor the work un- 
dertaken by the Convocation of Canterbury, when- 
ever it shall have been completed, and its results 
laid before them." • 

On motion of the Bishop of Albany, it was or- 
dered that the following minute be entered on the 
Journals of the House of Bishops : 

We, tlie Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 
United States of America, having our attention called to the 
published report of the proceedings of the Alt- Catholic Con- 
gress, recently assembled in Munich, put on record the expres- 
sion of our earnest sympathy with the heroic struggle for re- 
ligious liberty now making by the members of that Congress ; 
and of our anxious hope and fervent prayers that God may 
give them counsel and might to maintain and carry out the de- 
termination to reject all dogmas set up under any Pope, in con- 
tradiction to the teaching of the primitive Church, and to hold 
fast to the old Catholic faith, as it was by the Apostles deli- 
vered to the Saints. 

The Bishops referred the question of the expedi- 
ency of introducing the Provincial System to the 
next Convention. 



OF THE AMERICAN ClimClL 273 

An elaborate communication from the Rev. Pre- 
sident Barnard, of Columbia College, on the Pas- 
chal Cycle, is printed in the Appendix. 

A new Canon, " Of the Board of Missions," and 
another, as to the time when new Canons take ef- 
fect, were adopted, and numerous changes were 
made in the other Canons. 

The number of clergy reported was two thousand 
eight hundred and seventy six. 

The record of the proceedings of this Convention, 
with the necessary appendices and the amended 
Canons, makes a closely printed volume of seven 
hundred and eighty pages ; the very size affording, 
by contrast with the single "Broadside" proceed- 
ings of the preliminary gathering in 1784, a marked 
evidence of the growth and present strength of 
the American Church. 



274 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



THE COE'YENTIOlsr OF 1874. 

The Convention of 1874 met on the 7tli of Octo- 
ber in St. John's Chapel, of Trinity Parish, in the 
city of New York. The presence of the Lord 
Bishop of Lichfield, whose attendance upon the 
preceding Convention had been so fruitful in happy 
results, together with the Metropolitan of Canada, 
the Lord Bishop of Quebec, the Lord Bishop of 
I^ingston, and the Right Rev. Dr. Tozer, late Mis- 
sionary Bishop of Zanzibar, Central Africa, gave 
added dignity to a gathering of Bishops, Clergy, 
and Laity such as had never assembled in Conven- 
tion before. The session of the Convention ex- 
tended until the 3d of November, twenty-four work- 
ing days, eight of which were spent in secret ses- 
sion. There w^ere forty-three Bishops, and one 
hundred and sixty-fiv^e clerical and one hundred 
and forty-four lay deputies in attendance, besides 
four clerical and two lay delegates from the Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions. One member-elect was raised 
to the Episcopate during the session, and during the 
recess of Convention seven of its members have 
been consecrated, while three otliers have received 
the honor of an election to tlie Bishopric, which has 
not been consummated. The preacher was the Lord 
Bishop of Lichfield, who* filled the place of the 
Bishop of Mississippi at the solicitation of that 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 275 

venerable prelate. The following extract from this 
admirable discourse will give the keynote of the 
whole, and indicate a leading object of the presence 
of Bishop Selwyn at this session of Convention. 

The true office, tlien, of the Synods and Conventions of the 
Church is to pray for the grace of the Holy Spirit to enable 
them to search the deep things of God. We have the Holy 
Bible in our hands ; each one of us is free to read ; free to 
seek the promised blessing, that they who search the Scrip- 
tures shall find ; but still the fact remains, that whether it be 
from prejudice, or self-deceit, or defect of prayer, the readers 
of the same Word differ in opinion widely one from another. 
Can all be right ; or, according to the current phrase, shall all 
agree to differ ? Oh I no. It is truth that we seek. To 
acquiesce in error is to give up the search after truth. God has 
set His bow in the cloud to teach us that the refracted rays of 
many colors must be made to converge again. Men of narrow 
opinions and partial views must blend together in one those 
partial glimpses of the truth which each has mistaken for the 
whole. When party spirit, like the dark cloud, shall have 
passed away, and with it tlie many-colored rays of religious 
opinions, then will truth of doctrine shine forth, like the face 
of our transfigured Lord, shining as the sun, and like His rai- 
ment white as the light. 

That focus of the scattered rays of light has ever been in 
the Holy Synods of the Church. How glorious were those 
days in which the Holy Ghost poured down the spirit of coun- 
sel upon an undivided Christendom ! Think what we, as 
descended from Gentile forefathers, owe to the Apostles, 
Elders, and brethren for that decree, which seemed good to 
the Holy Ghost and to them ; " Then hath God also to the 
Gentiles granted repentance unto lif e. " In consequence of that 
decree we have been brought out of darkness and error to 
the clear light and true knowledge of God and of His Son 
Jesus Christ. 

Think again what we owe to the Council of Nicaea, where all 
the diverging questions, •' What think ye of Christ ?" were 
gathered into one by the voice of the Holy Ghost speaking 



276 THE GENERAL CONVENTION. 

through the Bishops of the Universal Church : " We believe in 
one Lord Jesus Christ, God of God, Light of Light." 

Was the Spirit lost when the Churches of the East and 
West were rent asunder ? Oh 1 no. The Lord has said that 
"He will be with His Church alway." True it is that a di- 
vided Christendom cannot pray for the gifts of the Holy Ghost 
with the same full assurance as if every prayer went up to 
heaven from a multitude of believers still of one heart and one 
Boul. But the privilege which belongs to united prayers may 
Btill be exercised by a Church like ours, which it has pleased 
God to extend far and wide over the face of the earth and 
among the islands of the sea. Her prayers never cease day 
or night. Her bishoprics are one hundred and sixty. I will 
not say that a Church like ours can decide questions of doc 
trine with full authority like that of the undivided Church ; 
but until the time shall come, in the counsels of God, for that 
reunion of Christendom for which we devoutly pray, the pray- 
ers of such a branch of the Church as ours cannot fail to pro- 
cure for us a large measure of the gifts of the Spirit, if only 
we agree together as to what we shall ask of the Father. The 
same desire for unity which brings you together in your Gen- 
eral Convention will much more lead us to look forward to an- 
other meeting of the Lambeth Conference, to seek more care- 
fully for the mind of Jesus, and to pray more earnestly for the 
Holy Ghost to heal the divisions of our Church. 

" Let us, therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded; 
and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal 
even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already 
attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same 
thing." 



The organization of the two Houses was effected 
at the close of the impressive opening services, the 
Rt. Rev. Dr. Bosworth Smith presiding in the 
House of Bishops with the Rev. Dr. Potter as Sec- 
retary, and the Rev. Drs. Craik and Perry being 
unanimously re-elected to their respective positions 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 27Y 

as President and Secretary of the House of 
Deputies. 

On the second day of the session the testimonials 
of the Kev. Dr. Welles, Bishop-elect of Wisconsin, 
and the Rev. Dr. Seymour, Bishop-elect of Illinois, 
were presented and referred. About the latter issue 
arose the great controversy of the Convention. 
Going into secret session on the seventh day, this 
question occupied the attention of the House until 
the fourteenth day, when, after a discussion rarely 
if ever exceeded in interest or in the admirable tem- 
per in which it was conducted, the vote was reached 
as follows : 

In favor of the confirmation of the Bishop-elect 
of Illinois : of the Clergy there were 41 Dioceses 
represented, of which there were ayes 19 — ^Albany, 
California, Central I^ew York, Easton, Georgia, 
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Long Island, Maine, Michi- 
gan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hamp- 
shire, New York,Yermont, Western New York, Wis- 
consin. The nays were 10 — Connecticut, Delaware, 
Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, 
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Yirginia. Divided, 12 — Alaba- 
ma, Arkansas, Central Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, 
Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, 
Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas. 

Of the Laity there were 40 Dioceses represented. 
Ayes, 13 — Alabama, Albany, Illinois, Maine, 
Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, 
New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Yermont. 
Nays, 18 — California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, 
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Long Island, 



278 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 
Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia, Western 
New York, Wisconsin. Divided, 9 — Central New 
York, Central Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Easton, 
Louisiana, Massachusetts, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, 
Texas. 

The question turning to a great extent on the 
supposed doctrinal views of the Rev. Dr. Seymour, 
the following statements, over his signature, were 
presented during the debate, and are of sufficient 
importance to be reproduced on these pages. 



I. — Is it in accordance with llie standards of tliis 
Church to teach, either by word or act, the adoration of our 
Blessed Lord under the form of bread and wine in the Eucha- 
rist ? 

Answer. — I hold, in accordance with the standards of the 
Church of England, " that no adoration is intended or ought to 
be done either unto the Sacramental Bread or Wine there bodily 
received, or unto any corporal presence of Christ's natural 
Flesh and Blood. For the Sacramental Bread and Wine re- 
main still in their very natural substances, and therefore may 
not be adored (for that were idolatry to be abhorred of all 
faithful Christians) ; and the natural Body and Blood of our 
Saviour Christ are in heaven, and not here, it being against 
the truth of Christ's natural Body to be at one time in more 
places than one." I hold, also, in accordance with our Twenty- 
eighth Article, that " the Body of Christ is given, taken, and 
eaten in the Supper only after an heavenly and spiritual man- 
ner, and the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received is 
Faith." I hold, also, with the same Article, that " the Sacra- 
ment of the Lord's Supper was not by Christ's ordinance re- 
served, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped." 

George F, Seymour. 
October 21, 1874. 

Question. — Is attendance on the Sacrament for the purpose 
of assisting in the sacrifice without the reception of the ele- 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 279 

ments consonant with the spirit of our offices and articles — in 
otlier words, the offices and articles of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church ? 

Answer. — Such attendance, wiih such a purpose, ought, in 
my judgment, to be discouraged as not in any way recognized 
by our offices and articles ; that is, the offices and articles of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church, 

George F. Seymour. 

October 21, 1874. 

Question.— T)oQ^ the habit of private or Sacramental Confes- 
sion, so-called, foster as a means of grace a higher type of 
holiness than the disuse of such confession, except in the way 
and for the purposes indicated in the warning appointed to be 
read before the Holy Communion ? 

Answer. —I have never taught, encouraged, or practised the 
habit of private or Sacramental Confession, and I have never 
Been the fruits of such a practice in others, and hence I am not 
able to say what such fruits would be. I only know of Con- 
fession as it is taught and allowed by the standards of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church and sanctioned by the Bishops in 
their Pastoral of 1871. 

George F. Seymour. 

October 21, 1874. 

Question. — Did you, or do you ever, when present at the 
Holy Communion, practise bowings, crossings, kneelings, gen- 
uflexions, or any bodily act intending thereby to express any 
adoration of the Sacrament ? 

Answer. — I have never on any occasion done so ; nor could 
I possibly do so, since I do not wish, nor have I ever at any 
time desired, to pay such adoration. Such adoration would be 
contrary to my convictions ; it would be an awful impiety. 

George F. Seymour. 

October 21, 1874. 

Sliortlj before the vote was taken, the following 
letter was read by the Secretary to the House. The 
request it contained was not granted. 



280 THE G-EKERAL CONVENTION" 

To THE Clerical and Lay Deputies op the General 

Convention. 
Reverend Brethren and Brethren of the Laity : 

The unprecedented course whic^li has been adopted and pur- 
sued by the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies in reference to 
the question of my Confirmation to the Episcopate justifies me, I 
venture to submit, in addressing this note to your Reverend 
and Honorable Body, to crave the privilege of being allowed to 
be present on the floor of your House to answer for myself the 
charges which may be made against me as to any thing that I 
have ever said or done. 

Vague rumors reach me of serious accusations, which, so far 
as I have been able to ascertain the drift of them, are without 
exception founded on mistake, and are easily corrected and re- 
futed. But in most points they touch upon things fully known 
only to myself or two others who are not members of your 
House, so that no explanations sent through third persons can 
be entirely satisfactory to you or just to me, 

I can truly say from my heart that I never sought or desired 
the Episcopal office. My present painful position, as a Bishop- 
elect, is one into which I was suddenly forced by circumstances 
over which I had no control. Gladly would I, had I the 
power, replace myself where I was when the Diocese of Illinois 
elected me, but this I cannot do at this stage of the proceedings. 

For nineteen years and more I have served the Church as 
Deacon and Presbyter, and I leave it to my Bishop, and my 
brethren of the clergy and laity, who have known me from the 
first, to tell how I have lived and how I have labored. But I 
will say for myself that the Protestant Episcopal Church has 
never had a more loyal son than she has in me. I will say 
for myself, and all who know me will bear me witness that it 
is true, that there is nothing which is further from my nature 
than concealment or evasion. 

The question with me is not whether I am to be made a 
Bishop or no. My anxiety is altogether for my life and use- 
fulness as a clergyman, and my character as a man. 
With great respect. 

Very faithfully and truly yours, 

George F. Seymour. 
General Theological Seminary, 
New York, Oct. 23, 1874. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 281 

Certain questions of fact growing out of this pain- 
fully interesting and absorbing discussion, and giv- 
ing rise to subsequent criminations and recrimina- 
tions, need not be considered here. The result of 
the week's debate, so far as the charge of sympathy 
with Ritualism urged against Dr. Seymour, may be 
given in the words of the late Eev. Dr. Andrews 
— himself an earnest and acute participant in the 
discussion — as follows : '' The candidate, however, 
sustained no loss by the scrutiny, since the convic- 
tion of his being a Ritualist was at least not so gen- 
eral after the inquiry as it was before."^ 

The discussion of the question of " Ritual " re- 
sulted in the adoption — by a clerical vote of 38 ayes, 
2 nays, 1 divided, and a lay vote of 28 ayes, 1 nay, 
and 2 divided — of the following : 

Section, to be numbered § II., added to Canon 20 (renum- 
bered Canon 23) of Title I. , to wit : 

§ II. [1.] If any Bisbop bave reason to believe, or if com- 
plaint be made to him in writing by two or more of his Pres- 
byters, that within his jurisdiction ceremonies or practices not 
ordained or authorized in the Book of Common Prayer, and 
setting forth or symbolizing erroneous or doubtful doctrines, 
have been introduced by any minister during the celebration 
of the Holy Communion (such as, 

a. The elevation of the Elements in the Holy Communion in 
such manner as to expose them to the view of the people as 
objects towards which adoration is to be made, 

&. Any act of adoration of or towards the Elements in the 
Holy Communion, such as bowings, prostrations, or genuflex- 
ions ; and 

c. All other like acts not authorized by the Rubrics of the 
Book of Common Prayer :) 

_j ■ 

* Church Review, xxvii. 36. 



282 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

It sliall be the duty of such Bishop to summon the Standing 
Committee as his Council of Advice, and with them to investi- 
gate the matter. 

[2.] If, after investigation, it shall appear to the Bishop and 
Standing Committee that ceremonies or practices not ordained 
or authorized as aforesaid, and setting forth or symbolizing 
erroneous or doubtful doctrines, have in fact been introduced 
as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the Bishop, by instru- 
ment of writing under his hand, to admonish the minister so 
offending to discontinue such practices or ceremonies ; and if 
the minister shall disregard such admonition, it shall be the 
duty of the Standing (.'ommittee to cause him to be tried for a 
breach of his ordination vow. 

Provided, That nothing herein contained shall prevent the 
presentment, trial, and punishment of any minister under the 
provisions of ^ 1, Canon 3, Title II. of the Digest. 

[8.] In all investigations under the provisions of this Canon, 
the minister whose acts or practices are the subject matter of 
the investigation, shall be notified, and have opportunity to be 
heard in his defence. The charges preferred, and the findings 
of the Bishop and Standing Committee, shall be in writing, 
and a record shall be kept of the proceedings in the case. 

The action of the General Convention of 1853,* 
giving an interpretation to the meaning of the con- 
stitutional " three days " within which the House 
of Bishops are required to return a negative, with 
their reasons, to render inoperative action of the 
House of Deputies, was practically reversed by the 
following recommendation of the Committee on 
Amendment to the Constitution, which view, after 
discussion, was finally adopted by the Convention. 

The amendment in question relates to the setting apart by 
the General Convention of a portion of the territory of any 

* Ante, pp. 194, 195. Query. Does not Canon VII. of 1850 
by this ruling become void ? 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 283 

organized Diocese too large for the Episcopal supervision of 
the Bishop thereof, with the consent of such Bishop and of 
the Diocesan Convention, and the placing of such portion 
under Missionary Jurisdiction. 

It was passed by the House of Delegates on the 25th of 
October, 1871, and was sent to the House of Bishops for their 
concurrence. On the following day (October 26th) the House 
of Delegates finally adjourned, and on the next day (October 
27th) the House of Bishops also adjourned, without having 
taken any action on the proposed amendment. 

In Article 3 of the Constitution it is provided that the acts 
of the House of Delegates shall have the operation of laws, 
unless the House of Bishops shall, within three days after a 
proposed act shall have been reported to them for concurrence, 
signify to the Convention their approbation or disapprobation. 

The Committee are of opinion that no act of this House can 
take effect as an act of the Convention by the failure of the 
House of Bishops to concur or non-concur within the specified 
time, unless this House shall continue its session during the 
whole of that time, and that by an earlier final adjournment 
all acts of legislation not completed by the concurrence of both 
Houses fall to the ground. 

The Amendment proposed to Article 4, omitting 
at its close the words " hy any Church destitute of 
a Bishop," and substituting the words " in another 
Diocese by the ecclesiastical authority thereof," was 
adopted. The following proposed changes in the 
Constitution were adopted by concurrent action of 
both Houses, and will be finally acted upon at the 
General Convention of 1877, to wit : 

I. Resolved, That it be recommended and proposed that the 
following alteration be made in Article 5 of the Constitution, 
to wit : Insert at the end of the Article the words : 

" The General Convention may, upon the application of the 
Bishop and Convention of an organized diocese, setting forth 
that the territory of the Diocese is too large for due episcopal 



284: THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

supervision by the Bishop of such Diocese, set off a portion of 
such Diocesan territory, which shall thereupon be placed 
within, or constitute, a Missionary Jurisdiction, as the House 
of Bishops may determine." 

II. Hesolved, Thai the following be proposed and made known 
to the several Dioceses as an amendment to Article 8 of the 
Constitution, to be added at the end of the Article as it now 
stands, to wit, the words : 

" Provided, That the General Convention may by Canon 
arrange and set forth a shortened form of Morning and Evening 
Prayer, to be compiled wholly from the Book of Common 
Prayer." 

III. Resolved, That the following be proposed as an amend- 
ment, by way of addition, to the 8th Article of the Constitu- 
tion, to wit : 

'* Provided, however, That the General Convention shall have 
power, from time to time, to amend the Lectionary ; but no 
act for this purpose shall be valid which is not voted for by a 
majority of the whole number of Bishops entitled to seats in 
the House of Bishops, and by a majority of all the Dioceses 
entitled to representation in the House of Deputies." 

The presence of the Metropolitan of Canada, witli 
a deputation bearing an address from the Provincial 
Sjnod, was made the occasion of important confer- 
ences, resulting in the adoption of resolutions attest- 
ing practically, as well as in words, the intercom- 
munion of the American and Canadian Churches. 
The recommendation of a mutual requirement of 
Letters Dimissory in the case of clergymen remov- 
ing from one church to the other, and the giving to 
the laity letters of introduction and commendation 
under similar circumstances, was agreed upon. The 
Joint Committee having in charge the matter of 
relations with the Church in Canada was continued. 
Graceful recognition was made of the eminent ser- 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 285 

vices of the Eev. Dr. Haight, providentially prevent- 
ed from attendance upon the Convention. Provision 
was made for the better organization of the House, 
and for the election of a Vice-President. The Secre- 
tary and Treasurer were made ex-officio members of 
the House, with the right to speak on matters per- 
taining to their respective offices even if not returned 
as .Deputies. The consideration of the Provincial 
System was, after discussion, indefinitely postponed. 
The cumbersome title of the Lower House was 
shortened by the omission of the words " Clerical 
and Lay." 

It was pronounced inexpedient to provide a Court 
of Appeals, or to institute a Constitutional Commis- 
sion, as proposed by the far-seeing Bishop of West- 
em New York, though both of these important 
measures received the approval of the Upper House, 
and must eventually be approved. 

The Joint Committee on the Republication of 
the Early Journals, dating its first appointment 
back to the Convention of 1859, and charged with 
a duty which for many years had occupied the atten- 
tion of the General Convention, reported that the 
objects of their appointment had been accomplished 
so far as the republication of the journals of the Con- 
vention from 1Y85-1835, inclusive, were concerned. 
The Committee added, as a simple matter of justice, 
that the editorial labor in the preparation of this re- 
print, extending over a period of twelve years, had 
been performed without cost to the Convention or the 
Church, and that by the addition of avolimie of his- 
torical papers prepared from the MSS, in the 



286 THE GENERML CONVENTION 

Archives of the Church by the Historiographer, 
which the pubhshers regarded as ensuring the sale 
of the reprint, the plates of the reprinted journals 
would become the property of the General Conven- 
tion, and give for the future the means for the re- 
issue of the whole series of the Journals of Conven- 
tion when desirable. Both Plouses expressed their 
satisfaction at the successful completion of this im- 
portant work. The question of a revision of the 
Nicene Creed was postponed, with the expression 
of an opinion, on the part of the House of Deputies, 
that this Church ought not to enter upon any con- 
sideration of the proposition until it can be done 
in some united Council of all those autonomous 
Churches using the English rite, and in communion 
with this Church and the Church of England. In 
the House of Bishops the judgment of the Com- 
mittee to which this subject was referred, was that 
" a matter so seriously affecting the Great Confes- 
sion of our Eaith should not be practically entered 
upon without preliminary conferences with other 
Churches, and especially those with which we are 
in visible union and communion." After much dis- 
cussion, the hnal action on the Hymnal, a revision 
of which was presented at this session, was a concur- 
rent resolution 



That the Trustees, authorized by a former joint resolution 
of the two Houses of the General Convention to superintend 
the revision and publication of the Revised Hymnal, with 
power to make the typographical and other changes necessary 
to conform it to the report of the Committee on the Hymnal, 
be instructed in the discharge of their duties : 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 287 

1st. To make all necessary corrections of clerical or typo- 
graphical errors or mistakes in punctuation in the text of the 
Hymnal as revised, and authorized by the General Convention 
at its present session. 

2d. To substitute for the word " Jesu" the wsrd " Jesus," 
wherever it occurs. 

3d. To make the following corrections in the printed slip 
distributed to the Convention and headed Changes in the 
Hymnal, and reported by the Joint (Committee : 

(a) Hymn 315 to be printed as in the " Hymnal," instead of 
as in the " Prayer Book." 

(6) Hymn 378 to remain as in the Revised Hymnal, being No. 
63 of the Prayer Book. 

(c) Hymn 393. Substitute for this the Hymnal version. 
At the end of the Hymns add the " Prayer Book " version, 
as Hymn 532. 

4tli. To make the following alterations, so that as to the 
Hymns named, the Revised Hymnal may correspond with the 
Standard Edition of the Hymnal. 

{a) Hymn 219, verse 3d, line 4th, substitute " might well " 
for " would then." 

(6) Hymn 405, v. 2d, line 1, substitute " Know that the Lord " 
for " the Lord ye know." 

(c) Hymn 483, v. 3d, line 3d, substitute " far-seeing" for 
" foreseeing." 

id) Hymn 496, insert 4th verse from Bickersteth, and omit 
5th verse, as now printed. 

(e) Hymn 502, v. 2, line 4, substitute the word " Sovereign" 
for the word " gracious. " 

5th. To make the corrections as proposed by the Hymnal 
Committee, and as set forth in the printed sheet submitted to 
the Convention and headed " Corrections. " 

6th. To allow no hymn to be added to those now in the Re- 
vised Hymnal, and none to be omitted therefrom, but such as 
are authorized by this resolution. 

The question of shortened sendees was remanded 
to the consideration of the next Convention, it being 
judged that this matter could only be reached by 



288 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

constitutional amendment ; but the following action, 
which was adopted without debate, while a proposal 
accompanying it in the Report of the Committee on 
Canons to appoint a Commission on Rubrical Revi- 
sion failed of success, should not be overlooked. 

Besohed, That it is the sense of this Convention that nothing 
in the present order of Common Prayer prohibits the separa- 
tion, when desirable, of the Morning Prayer, the Litany, and 
the Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper, into 
distinct services, which may be used independently of each 
other, and either of them without the others : Provided, that 
when used together, they be used in the same order as that in 
which they have commonly been used, and in which they stand 
in the Book of Common Prayer. 

In the House of Bishops, on motion of the Bishop 
of Albany, it was 

Resolved, That this House concurs in the Message from the 
House of Deputies, in relation to using the services separately. 

A modified approval of the proposed Lambeth 
Conference was adopted after an earnest defence of 
the autonomy of the American Church and the firm 
expression of an unwillingness to surrender in any 
way its independence of foreign control. The 
action, as finally shaped, was as follows : 

Resolved, That all exchange of friendly greetings ; all evi- 
dences of the existence of the unity of the spirit in the bond 
of peace between the Church of England and the Protestant 
Episcopal Church in America, whether by Bishops in confer- 
ence or otherwise, are especially welcome to the Church. 

In this resolution the House of Bishops concurred. 
An important report of the Committee having in 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 289 

charge the preparation of a German version of the 
Prayer Book deserves a place in our record. It is 

as follows : 

The whole Prayer Book and the appended offices, with the 
exception of the Institution Office, have been rendered into 
the German language, and a considerable portion of this trans- 
lation has been printed in order to subject it to criticism and 
to the practical test of actual use in public services. By the 
liberality of a member of Grace Church, New York, we have 
printed the offices for Morning and Evening Prayer, the Com- 
munion Office, etc., as a book for Missionary service, and it has 
been tried in several places by the authority of the Ordinary. 
It is on sale, and can be obtained at a very moderate price. 
Other offices have been printed in the Kirchenblatt, and in that 
form have been revised by competent critics. 

The scholar to whom this very important and delicate task 
has been committed, the Rev. G. F. Siegmund, is a native of 
Germany, educated in her Universities, and remarkably quali- 
fied by nature and by previous studies, and as well, we trust, 
by Divine Grace, for the work. He is a Deacon of the Diocese 
of Western New York, a man of mature age, having been a 
Lutheran Pastor for many years before his admission to our 
communion. The general rules under which he has labored 
with great enthusiasm, and wholly without any other reward 
than his interest in the Church and his love of his Master, are 
as follows : 

1. Whatever in our Anglican Prayer Book is borrowed from 
the ancient liturgies should be translated directly from the 
Greek and Latin, and not from the English. 

2. AVhatever can be found in the old German Agendas 
translated from the ancient liturgies in the liturgical language 
of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries should be appropri- 
ated. 

3. Not only in the lessons and psalms, and in the literal 
quotations from the Bible, but even in allusions to Scriptural 
expressions, the German Prayer Book is to follow the text of 
Luther's German Bible, which is the only German translation 
of authority made from the Hebrew and Greek. 



290 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

4. In translating the distinctly Anglican portions of the 
Prayer Book, or such parts of ancient liturgies as are not to be 
found in old German translations, the words and idioms should 
be taken from the vocabulary of the German Bible and the 
old German liturgies. 

5. To secure the highest degree of verbal and idiomatic 
accuracy, the work of the translator should be submitted to 
living critics of high position in Germany, and their sugges- 
tions should be very carefully considered and respected. 

It gives us pleasure to say that such German critics as 
Schoeberlein, Heusch, Haubt, and others have been consulted. 

They have taken a generous interest in the measure, and 
have borne the most gratifying testimony to the beauty and 
liturgic spirit of the translation. They have taken pains to 
indicate a few desirable alterations, and their advice has been 
followed to a considerable extent. As they did not sufficiently 
allow for the very strict fidelity to the originals required by 
our Liturgic Constitutions, we could not always accept their 
improvements. 

A proposed relaxation of the Kubrics in the 
Offices for Infant Baptism failed of success. It wa» 
presented by the Committee on Canons of the lower 
House, and was as follows : 

1. Resolved (the House of Bishops concurring), That it be, 
and hereby is, proposed to add as a Rubric at the end of the 
OflBce for Infant Baptism the words following — namely : 

" The minister may, at his discretion, omit the exhortation 
preceding the Lord's Prayer in the above Oflfice, and in place 
of the Thanksgiving substitute the Collect for Easter Even. 
This Rubric, however, is not to be construed as implying 
any change in the doctrine of the Church." 

2 Resolved (the House of Bishops concurring). That the 
Secretary of the House of Deputies cause the proposed Rubric 
to be made known to the Dioceses, as required by the Consti- 
tution and Canons. 

A Lectionarj for Lent was proposed, and after 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 291 

consideration referred to the next Convention. The 
Santee Indian Reservation was transferred from the 
Diocese of Nebraska to the Missionary District of 
Niobrara. Recognition was made of the efficient 
labors of the Rev. Dr. Ciiarles R. Hale, in connec- 
tion with the furtherance of the work of the Russo- 
Greek Committee, and of the services of the Rev. 
Dr. Langdon, of the Italian Reform Commission. 
The following Canon of Church Music was passed : 

§ I. Tlie Selection of the Psalms in metre, and Hymns which 
are set forth by authority, and Anthems in the words of Holy 
Scripture, are allowed to be sung in all congregations of this 
Church before and after Morning and Evening Prayer, and 
also before and after sermons, at the discretion of the minis- 
ter, whose duty it shall be, by standing directions, or from time 
to time, to appoint such authorized Psalms, Hymns, or Anthems 
as are to be sung. 

§ II. It shall be the duty of every minister of this Church, 
with such assistance as he may see fit to employ from persons 
skilled in music, to give order concerning the tunes to be sung 
at any time in his church, and especially it shall be his duty 
to suppress all light and unseemly music, anl all indecency 
and irreverence in the performance by which vain and ungodly 
persons profane the service of the sanctuary. 

Questions arising respecting Suffragan Bishops, 
the Increase of the Missionary Episcopate, the Cor- 
respondence with the Hierarchy of the Eastern 
Churches, the subject of Marriage with Relatives, 
and Correspondence with the Bishop and Synod 
of the Old Catholics, were referred by the Bishops 
to Committees to sit during the recess, while 
Joint Committees were appointed on Ecclesias- 
tical Relations and Religious Reform; on Yer- 



292 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

sions of the Prayer Book in German, Spanish, Ital- 
ian, and French ; on the Godly Discipline of Com- 
municant Members; on the Force of Joint Eesolu- 
tions; on the Government of the General Theologi- 
cal Seminary ; on the Canadian Synod ; on a Lection- 
ary for Lent ; on a Canon " of Deaconesses or 
Sisters." New Dioceses subsequently designated as 
those of Northern New Jersey, Southern Ohio, 
Western Michigan, and Fond dii Lac were created. 
Missionary Districts were formed, with the titles of 
Northern California, and Northern and Western 
Texas. The Missionary District of Arizona was sepa- 
rated from that of Nevada and united to that of New 
Mexico, taken from Colorado. The Foreign Mis- 
sionary Jurisdiction of China and Japan was divided 
into those of Shanghai and Yedo. The Eev. Drs. 
Elliott, Wingfield, Garrett, and Adams were elected 
to the Domestic Missionary Episcopate. The Rev. 
W. P. Orrick was elected to the Missionary Bishop- 
ric of Shanghai, but declined the appointment. 

Under the provisions of Article 10 of the Consti- 
tution, the Bev. Dr. Holly was elected to the Epis- 
copate of Haiti, and the following " Concordat " 
entered into with the Church in that island. 

COVENANT. 

In the Name of tlie Most Holy and Undivided Trinity, Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost, Amen. 

The following Covenant, or Articles of Agreement, Concord, 
and Union, between the House of Bishops of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church in the United States of America of the first 
part, and the Convocation of the Protestant Episcopal Church 



or THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 293 

in the Republic of Haiti of tlie second part, establishes the 
ensuing stipulations mutually entered into by the two Churches 
aforesaid. 

Article 1. The House of Bishops, aforesaid, in considera- 
tion of the fact that all the Clergy, eleven in number, belong- 
ing to the Church in Haiti, own no allegiance to the govern- 
ment of these United States, but are Haitien citizens, do hereby 
recognize the aforesaid Church in Haiti as of right as also in 
point of fact a foreign Church to all intents and purposes with- 
in the meaning of Article 10 of the Constitution of the Protes 
tant Episcopal Church in the said United States of America. 
But while the aforesaid House of Bishops doth thus recognize 
the Church in Haiti to be a foreign Church, yet, during its 
early growth and development, it shall continue to enjoy the 
nursing care of the Church in these United States until the 
Church in Haiti shall attain to competency for its own sup- 
port, and to a sufficiency in its Episcopate for the adminis- 
tration of its own affairs, according to the requirements of 
the ancient Canons and primitive usages of the Church of 
Christ. 

Art. 2. The House of Bishops, acting under the aforesaid 
Article 10 of the Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the United States of America, and availing itself of 
the concession made to them by the Protestant Episcopal Church 
in the Republic of Haiti in the stipulation contained in Article 
5 following of this Covenant, will designate and consecrate to 
the OflSce of Bishop one of the Clergymen of the aforesaid 
Church in Haiti (making selection of the said person according 
to the best of its godly judgment as to his fitness and qualifica- 
tions for such a high and holy vocation). 

Art. 8. The said House of Bishops furthermore agrees to 
name from among its own members a Commission of four 
Bishops, with whom the aforesaid Bishop or Bishops to be 
consecrated for the Church in Haiti shall be associated. And 
this Commission shall form a temporary Board of Administra- 
tion for the Episcopal Government of the Church in Haiti. 
And as such a majority of the same, shall be competent to 
take order for the designation and consecration of future 
Bishops in Haiti, as the necessity may arise, on the demand of 



294 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

tlie Convocation of tlie Church in that Republic. The said 
temporary Board of Administration shall be furthermore em- 
powered to administer all the discipline pertaining to the Epis- 
copal order of the Ministry for the Church in Haiti until at 
least three Bishops shall be designated, consecrated, and 
canonical ly established in said Church. It being understood 
that this Commission of Bishops shall be governed in the ex- 
ercise of their Episcopal administration, judgments, and acts 
by the provisions contained in the Constitution and Canons of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of 
America, so far as the same can be applied to the divergent 
circumstances of the Church in Haiti. 

Art. 4. The Protestant Episcopal Church in Haiti on its part 
agrees always to guard in all their essentials a conformity to 
the doctrine, worship, and discipline of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the United States of America, as the same are set 
forth in the duly authorized standards of the said Church, and 
that it will not depart therefrom any further than local circum- 
stances shall make it necessary. 

Art. 5, The Protestant Episcopal Church in Haiti further 
agrees to concede to the House of Bishops of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church in the United States of America the choice 
of its first Bishop to be consecrated : and thereafter to concede 
the same prerogative to a majority of the Commission of 
Bishops forming the temporary Board of Administration to 
choose or designate among the Haitien Clergy future Bishops 
on the demand of the Convocation in Haiti. And this prerog- 
ative shall continue until in the good Providence of God three 
Bishops shall be canonically resident and exercising jurisdic- 
tion in the Church of Haiti. Then this prerogative shall 
cease on the part of the aforesaid Commission, and all its 
functions revert to those three Bishops thus established in 
Haiti. 

In testimony whereof these Articles have been signed in 
duplicate, on the part of the House of Bishops, by the Bishops 
appointed for that purpose, and on the part of the Convocation 
of the Church in Haiti, by its Dean, who has exhibited duly 
authenticated credentials clothing him with full power to act 
in this matter in the name and in the behalf of the Convoca- 
tion aforesaid. 



OF THE AMEBICAN CHUECH. 2,95 

Done in the City of New York, on the third day of Novem- 
ber, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
seventy-four. 
(Signed) James Theodore Holly, 

Dean, &c. [l. s.J 
Wtllla-M R. Whittingham, 

Bishop of Maryland, [l. s.] 
Alfred Lee, 

Bishop of Delaware, [l. s.] 
Thomas Atkinson, 

Bishop of North Carolina, [l. s.J 
Horatio Potter, 

Bishop of New York. [l. s.J 
G. T. Bedell, 

Bishop of the Diocese of Ohio. [l. s.J 
A. Cleveland Coxe, 
Bishop of Western New York. [l. s.] *' 
Done in my presence, and duplicates exchanged. 
Attest: Henry C. Potter, 

Secretary of the House of Bishops. : 

This important action was consummated by the 
consecration of the E,ev. Dr. Holly shortly after the 
adjournment of the Convention. 

In the House of Bishops, the final action with 
reference to the abandormient of the Church by the 
Assistant Bishop of Kentucky was as follows : 

Whereas, On the 10th day of November, 1873, George 
David Cummins, late Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Ken- 
tucky, did abandon the communion of this Church by a letter 
addressed to the Senior Bishop ; and 

Whereas, The precedent requirements by Canon 8, Title II. 
of the Digest having been duly complied with, the Senior 
Bishop, acting under the advice of persons learned in the law 
of the Church, with the consent in writing of a majority of the 
Bishops entitled to seats in this House, did on the 24th day of 
June, 1874, depose said George David Cummins, late Assistant 
Bishop of the Diocese of Kentucky, from the Ministry of this 
Church, and did pronounce and record in the presence of two 



296 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Bisliops that the said George David Cummins had been so de- 
posed ; but a doubt has arisen whether the consent of the 
Bishops so given was regular, a majority of the House of 
Bishops being now present and concurring ; it is hereby 

Resolved, That the action of the Senior Bishop in deposing 
the said George David Cummins, late Assistant Bishop of the 
Diocese of Kentucky, from the Ministry of this Church, be, 
and the same is hereby, consented to, ratified, and confirmed. 

Resolved, That, without waiving the effect of the consent 
{nunc pro tunc) declared in the preceding resolution, and in 
order to prevent any question being hereafter raised in respect 
thereto, the consent of a majority of the House of Bishops is 
hereby given that the said George David Cummins, late Assist- 
ant Bishop of the Diocese of Kentucky, be deposed from the 
Ministry of this Church. 

Resolved, That leave be given to record upon the official 
Journal of this House the sentence of the Senior Bishop de- 
posing from the Ministry of this Church George David Cum- 
mins, late Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Kentuckey which 
sentence, signed by the Senior Bishop, and attested by the 
Bishops of Maryland and Pennsylvania, is as follows, to wit : 

Be it known, That I, Benjamin Bosworth Smith, D,D., 
Senior Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United 
States of America, by virtue of my office, in pursuance of Canon 
8, Title II. of the Digest, and with the consent of a majority of 
the House of Bishops, do depose from the Ministry George 
David Cummins, late Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Ken- 
tucky. And I do hereby pronounce and record, in the pres- 
ence of the Bishops of Maryland and Pennsylvania, that the 
said George David Cummins has been so deposed. 

Given under my hand this seventeenth day of October, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy- 
four. Benjamin Bosworth Smith, Senior Bishop. 
Done in our presence this seventeenth day of 

October, in the year of our Lord one thou- 
sand eight hundred and seventy-four. 
William Rollinson Whittingham, Bishop of Maryland. 
William Bacon Stevens, Bishop of Pennsylvania. 

This action was adopted, nem con. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 297 

The Presiding Bishop thereupon pronounced and 
recorded the said sentence as follows, viz. : 

In eeneral Coiiyfiiitioii of tie Protestant Episcopal ClinrcL 

HOUSE OF BISHOPS. 

St. John's Chapel, New York, ) 
October 17, 1874. \ 

Beit known, Tliat I, Benjamin Bosworth Smith, D.D., 
Senior Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United 
States of America, by virtue of my office, in pursuance of 
Canon 8, Title II. of the Digest, and with the consent of a 
majority of the House of Bishops, do depose from the Ministry 
George David Cummins, late x\ssistaut Bishop of the Diocese 
of Kentucky. And 1 do hereby pronounce and record, in the 
presence of the Bishops of this Church assembled as a House 
of Bishops, that the said George David Cummins has been 
go deposed. 

Given under my hand this seventeenth day of October, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy- 
four. Benjamin Boswokth Smith, 

Senior Bishop. 
Done in our presence this seventeenth day of 
October, in the year of our Lord one thou- 
sand eight hundred and seventy-four. 
William Rollinson Whittingham, 

Bishop of Maryland. 
William Bacon Stevens, 

Bishop of Pennsylvania. 

The following standing orders were adopted in 
the House of Bishops : 

First. When the House of Bishops is ready to ballot for a 
Missionary Bishop, the Presiding Bishop shall bid the House 
to prayer, and the order of service shall be as follows : 

1. A Bishop designated by the Presiding Bishop shall read 
a lesson taken out of the Holy Scriptures — namely, one of the 
following : 

Exodus iv. ]to 12. 



298 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Isaiah vl. to 8. 
Acts XX. 17. 
Rev. vii. 9. 

2. After whicli shall be said the longer form of the 
Veni Creator Spiritus, the Presiding Bishop beginning and the 
others answering by verses. 

3. The versicles — " The Lord be with you," 

" And with thy spirit." 
Secret Prayer, for which there shall silence be kept for a 
space. 

5. The Lord's Prayer and U. Cor. xiii. 14. 
Second. When the House of Bishops is ready to vote upon 
the Confirmation of a Bishop-elect, the Presiding Bivshop shall 
bid the House to prayer, and after silence shall have been kept 
for a space, shall say the 

Collect for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, 
Collect for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity, 
Collect for the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, and IL 
Cor. xiii. 14. 

The following " Minute " was adopted by the 
Bishops : 

The House of Bishops having heard of the death of the Right 
Reverend John Payne, Doctor of Divinity, formerly Missionary 
Bishop to Cape Palmas and parts adjacent, desires to enter 
upon its records tlie following minute : 

This servant of the Church was appointed Missionary to 
Africa, August 11, 1836. He was consecrated Missionary Bishop 
July 11, 1851. Having devoted himself early in life to the 
Missionary work among the heathen of Africa, he was sustained 
throughout his career by a deep sense of " the grace" which 
was bestowed upon him in his call " to preach among the Gen 
tiles the unsearchable riches of Christ ;" and undaunted by 
physical obstacles and frequent prostrations of his bodily 
strength, prosecuted his work in patient hope through thirty- 
four years, and until his body was so enfeebled that it was 
apparent that his further continuance in his stewardship would 
be a hindrance to the cause to which his life had been devoted. 
He wrote in his last annual report these memorable words 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 299 

which are recorded in this minute as his legacy to the Church, 
and as teaching the precious lesson of his life : " For myself, I 
fear that little ability remains to aid directly this glorious 
work. Thirty-three years' connection with one of the most 
unhealthy portions of the globe has left me the wreck of a 
man. But I claim that in devoting myself to preaching among 
the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, I was no fool. 
On the contrary, I did obey literally the command of my Lord. 
I did follow in the very footsteps of Apostles, Martyrs, and 
Prophets." 

The subject of Christian Education received the 
following consideration : 

Resolved, That the members of the Church be again most 
earnestly reminded of their sacred duty to uphold the schools 
and colleges which are under Church direction and influence. 
Resolved, That it be recommended to every Diocese to ap- 
point a Standing Committee of Christian Education which 
may communicate with this Committee of the General Con- 
vention, collect the statistics of Church education and of other 
educational work in the Diocese, and adopt such measures as 
may be most feasible for supplying teachers and for promoting 
the efficiency and permanence of our own institutions. 

The Alt-Catholic movement was thus noticed by 
the Bishops : 

Whereas, This House has, with great satisfaction, learned, 
by the report of several of its members, the steady progress of 
the movement in Germany and elsewhere toward the recovery 
of purity in doctrine and discipline, and the earnest desire and 
effort developing in connection with that movement for the 
reconciliation of portions of the Church now more or less dis- 
sociated ; therefore 

Resolved, That this House, with renewed confidence, reiterates 
the expression of its sympathy with the Bishop and Synod of 
the Old-Catholic communion in Germany, and the promise of 
its prayers for the Divine blessing and direction on their work. 

Resolved, That three Bishops be appointed a Commission of 
this House, to keep up fraternal correspondence with the 



300 THE GENERAL C0NVENTI0:N 

Bishop and Synod, for exchange of information and considera- 
tion of overtures for reconciliation and intercommunion be- 
tween sundered Churches. 

The Bishops of Maryland, Pittsburgh, and Alba- 
ny were appointed the members of this Committee. 

The number of Clergy reported was 3086, and from 
every part of the land evidence appeared of the * 
growth and increasing prosperity and influence of the 
Church. Since the preceding Convention, seven Bish- 
ops had been consecrated and ten had passed away 
— The Eight Kev. Charles Pettit Mcllvaine, Ohio, 
March 12th, 1873; the Eight Eev. Manton East- 
burn, Massachusetts, September 11th, 1872 ; the 
Eight Eev. George Upfold, Indiana, August 26th, 
1872; the Eight Eev. Henry John Whitehouse, 
Illinois, August 10th, 1874 ; the Eight Eev. John 
Payne (retired), Africa, October 23d, 1874; the 
Eight Eev. Thomas Frederick Davis, South Caro- 
lina, December 2d, 1871 ; the Eight Eev. Henry 
"Washington Lee, Iowa, September 26th, 1874 ; the 
Eight Eev. George Maxwell Eandall, Colorado, 
September 28th, 1873; the Eight Eev. William 
Edmond Armitage, Wisconsin, December 7th, 1873 ; 
the Eight Eev. John Gottlieb Auer, Cape Palmas, 
Africa,"Eebruary 16th, 1874. 

The report of the Committee on the State of the 
Church closed with these earnest words, than which 
none better can be found to complete our record of 
this important session : 

In view of the history of the past triennial period, and the' 
events that are transpiring around us, we can unhesitatingly 
avow our fixed conviction that this Church has a most encour- 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCE. 301 

aging future before her, that labor has never been more 
earnest, faith more positive, self-sacrifice more devoted, and 
kindly feeling and charity among brethren more general. All 
we seem to need is a higher standard of personal holiness 
among all our people, and a larger measure of liberality in 
sustaining the works the Church has in hand, to secure in 
the future a growth and expansion that shall exceed even the 
great advancement of the past. The field is widening, oppor- 
tunities are multiplying, the enemy is alive and powerful, and 
it behooves us to fight manfully, contend earnestly for the 
Faith once delivered to the Saints, and " work whilst it is day, 
for the night cometh when no man can work." 



302 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



THE CONVENTION OF 1877. 

The General Convention met in 1877 for the first 
time in Boston. Once only had it assembled in the 
New England States, in 1811, at New Haven. The 
place of meeting was the new Trinity Church, a 
magnificent edifice, the erection of which attests the 
successful rectorate of the celebrated Dr. Phillips 
Brooks. The representation was larger than at any 
previous Convention. Fifty-five out of the fifty-eight 
Bishops comprising the House of Bishops were in 
attendance. One hundred and eighty-four clerical, 
and one hundred and eighty-five lay deputies, made 
up the Lower House, together with nine clerical and 
eight lay delegates from the missionary jurisdictions, 
who were admitted to seats on the floor, making, with 
the Secretaries and Treasurer of the Convention, a 
representation of nearly four hundred and fifty. 
The session occupied twenty working days, lasting 
from the third to the twenty-fifth of the month. 
The sermon was preached by the Bishop of Connecti- 
cut, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Williams, from St. Luke, 7 : 22. 
After the opening services, which were of a most 
impressive nature, and were attended by a most inter- 
ested and intelligent assemblage, the House of Bishops 
organized under the presidency of the venerable 
senior Bishop, Dr. Bosworth Smith, with the Rev. Dr. 
H. C. Potter as Secretary. The Secretary of the House 
of Deputies, the Rev. Dr. Perry, having been raised 
to the Episcopate during the recess of Convention, 



OP THE AMERICAN" CHURCH. 303 

and the Assistant Secretary, the Rev. Dr. W. 0. 
Williams, of Georgia, having resigned his post in 
consequence of illness, the Rev. T. Stafford Drowne, 
D.D., of Long Island, under appointment of the 
Standing Committee of Massachusetts, acted as '* Pro- 
visional Secretary " in effecting the organization of the 
House, whereupon the Rev. Alexander Burgess, D.D., 
was elected President, and the Rev. Charles L. 
Hutchins Secretary. By a close vote (ayes 94, nays 
89), the House postponed action in the choice of 
a Vice President, and the provision of the '^ Stand- 
ing Order of the Organization of the House" 
authorizing such an appointment was repealed. 
The presence of the Rev. Craufurd Tait, M.A., 
the only son of the Primate of all England, 
was the occasion of a pleasant interchange of courte- 
sies between this estimable young clergyman, whose 
birth and position made him to a certain extent a 
representative of the mother Church of England, and 
the two Houses of Convention to which he was for- 
mally introduced, and from the members of which he 
received, as he well deserved, marked attention. In 
his lamented decease, shortly after his retarn to his 
native land, the hearts of many in both hemispheres 
felt personally bereaved at the loss of a youth of such 
piety and promise. 

A new feature was inaugurated at this session in 
the daily publication of condensed reports of the pro- 
ceedings of the House of Bishops, prepared by a 
Committee appointed for this purpose. A delegation 
fi'om the Provincial Synod of the Church in the 
Dominion of Canada was formally received by both 
Houses of Convention. Three new dioceses were 



304 THE GENEKAL CONVENTION 

created ; one, the Diocese of West Virginia, consist- 
ing of **the territory of the State of "West Virginia, 
according to the State Hnes thereof ;" a second, the 
Diocese of Quincy, comprising that part of the 
Diocese of Illinois * Hying west of the Illinois Eiver, 
and La Salle County, and south of the counties of 
Whiteside and Lee ;" and a third, the Diocese of 
Springfield, comprising that portion of the State and 
Diocese of Illinois "lying south of the counties of 
Woodford, Livingston, Ford, and Iroquois, and east 
of the Illinois Eiver." The proposed amendment to 
Art. 5 of the Constitution, providing for the setting 
apart of a portion of the territory of a Diocese too 
large for due Episcopal supervision as a missionary 
jurisdiction, was adopted by the House of Deputies, 
but failed to pass the House of Bishops. The proposed 
amendment to Art. 8 of the Constitution, relating to 
shortened forms of Morning and Evening Prayer, was 
defeated in the Lower House. The following changes 
in the Constitution and Canons were adopted, and 
incorporated into the law of the Church, to wit : 



CHANGE IN THE CONSTITUTION. 

Article 8 of the Constitution was amended so as to read as 
follows : 

A Book of Common Prayer, Administration of tlie Sacra- 
ments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, Articles 
of Religion, and a Form and Manner of making, ordaininpf, and 
consecrating Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, when established 
by this or a future General Convention, shall be used in the 
Protestant Episcopal Church in those Dioceses which shall have 
adopted this Constitution. No alteration or addition shall be 
made in the Book of Common Prayer, or other Offices of the 
Church, or the Articles of Religion, unless the same shall be 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 305 



proposed in one General Convention, and by a resolve thereof 
made known to the Convention of every Diocese, and adopted 
at the subsequent General Convention. Provided, liowemr. 
That the General Convention shall have power, from time to 
time, to amend the Lectionary ; but no act for this purpose 
shall be valid which is not voted for by a majority of the whole 
number of Bishops entitled to seats in the House of Bishops, 
and by a majority of all the Dioceses entitled to representation 
in the House of Deputies. 



CHANGES IN THE CANONS. 

CitU I— Canon 15. 

Clause [4] of Section vii. of Canon 15 of Title I. was amended 
so as to read as follows : 

[4.] The jurisdiction of this Church extending in right, 
though not always in form, to all persons belonging to it 
within the United States, it is hereby enacted that each Mis- 
sionary Bishop shall have jurisdiction over the clergy in the 
district assigned him ; and in case a presentment and trial of a 
Clergyman become proper, the Clerical Members of the Stand- 
ing Committee appointed by the Missionary Bishop as is here- 
inafter provided for may make presentment ; and the trial 
shall take place according to the Constitution and Canons of 
any Diocese of this Church which may have been selected by 
the said Missionary Bishop at the time of the appointment of 
such Standing Committee : Provided, that the Court shall be 
composed of at least three Presbyters, excluding the members 
of the Standing Committee and the accused. And if there be 
not a sufficient number of qualified Presbyters within his juris- 
diction, the said Missionary Bishop may call to his aid Presby- 
ters of any Diocese or Missionary Jurisdiction sufficiently near 



Citk IL— Canon 4. 

Canon 4 of Title II. was amended so as to read as follows-. 

Of Differences 'between Ministers and their Congregations, and of 
the Dissolution of a Pastoral Connection. 

§ i. A Rector, canonically elected and in charge, or an Insti- 
tuted Minister, may not resign his Parish without consent of 
the said Parish or its Vestry (if the Vestry be authorized to act 



306 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

in the premises) ; nor may sucli Rector or Minister be removed 
therefrom by said Parish or Vestry against his will, except as 
hereinafter provided. 

§ ii. In case any urgent reason or reasons should occasion a 
wish in a Rector or Minister as aforesaid, or in the Parish com- 
mitted to his charge, to bring about a separation and a dissolu- 
tion of all pastoral relation between such Minister and Parish, 
and tlie parties be not agreed in respect of such separation and 
dissolution, notice of such desire and disagreement may be 
given by either party to tlie Ecclesiastical Authority of the 
Diocese or Missionary Jurisdiction, in writing. And in case of 
any difference between the Minister and Parish or Vestry as 
aforesaid, which may not be satisfactorily settled by the godly 
judgment of the Bishop alone, or which he may decline to con- 
sider without counsel, the Bishop (or if the Diocese be vacant, 
any Bishop selected by the Ecclesiastical Authority), acting 
with the advice and consent of the Standing Committee of the 
Diocese or Missionary Jurisdiction, or with that of the Presby- 
ters only of said Standing Committee (if both parties shall 
assent to such limitation in writing), shall be the ultimate ar- 
biter and judge ; and refusal to accept and comply with the 
arbitration and judgment on the part of the Minister aforesaid, 
shall not work a continuance of lawful and canonical Rector- 
ship or settlement beyond the date fixed, conditionally or other- 
wise, for its termination by such arbitration and judgment, 
should such termination be recommended and required ; but 
such pastoral connection shall, unless otherwise agreed by the 
parties, cease and terminate as therein required. But such 
refusal shall subject the Minister so refusing to inhibition by 
the Bishop aforesaid from all ministerial offices and functions 
within the Diocese or Missionary Jurisdiction ; and such refusal 
on the part of a Parish shall disqualify it from representation 
in the Convention of the Diocese until it shall have been de- 
clared by the Ecclesiastical Authority to have given satisfac- 
tory guarantees for the acceptance of and compliance with the 
arbitration and judgment. 

i^ iii. In case of the regular and canonical dissolution of the 
connection between a Minister and his congregation, the 
Bishop, or if there be no Bishop, the Standing Committee, 
shall direct the Secretary of the Convention to record the same. 
But if the dissolution of the connection between a Minister and 
his Congregation be not regular or canonical, the Bishop or 
Standing Committee shall lay the same before the Convention 
of the Diocese, in order that the above-mentioned penalties 
may take effect. 

§ IV. This Canon shall not be in force in any Diocese which 
has made, or shall hereafter make, provision by Canon upon this 
subject, nor in any Diocese with whose laws or charters it may 
interfere. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCn, 807 



Citic II.— CAxoi^ 5. 



Canon 5 of Title II. was amended so as to read as follows : 



Of Renunciation of the Ministry. 

% i. If any Minister of tbis Churcli, against whom there is no 
ecclesiastical proceeding- instituted, shall declare, in writing, to 
the Ecclesiastical Authority of the Diocese or Missionary Juris- 
diction to which he belongs, his renunciation of the Ministry of 
this Church, it shall be the duty of the Ecclesiastical Author- 
ity to record the declaration so made ; and thereupon it shall 
be the duty of the Bishop, or, if there be no Bishop of the Dio- 
cese or Missionary Jurisdiction, of any Bishop who, being 
requested by the Standing Committee, shall consent to act in 
the matter, to depose such person from the Ministry, and to 
pronounce and record, in the presence of two or more Clergy- 
men, that the person so declaring has been deposed from the 
Ministry of this Church. Provided, however. That if the Bishop 
shall be satisfied that the person so declaring is not amenable 
for any canonical offence, and that his renunciation of the Min- 
istry is not occasioned by foregoing misconduct or irregularity, 
but is voluntary and for causes assigned or known, which do 
not effect his moral character, he shall so declare in pronounc- 
ing and recording said deposition, and shall, if desired, give a 
certificate to this effect to the person so deposed ; and he shall 
also give due notice of such deposition from the Ministry to the 
Ecclesiastical Authority of every Diocese and Missionary Juris- 
diction of this Church, in the form in which the same is re- 
corded. 

§ ii. If the Ecclesiastical Authority shall have reason to 
believe that the person so declaring has acted hastily and un- 
advisedly, action on such declaration may be postponed for the 
space of not more than six months, during which time such 
person may withdraw his application. 

§ iii. If the Ecclesiastical Authority, to whom such declara- 
tion is made, shall have ground to suppose that the person 
making the same is liable to presentment for any canonical 
offence, such person may, in the discretion of the said Ecclesias- 
tical Authority, be put upon trial for such offence, notwith- 
standing such declaration of renunciation of the Ministry. 



308 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



Citle IL— Canon 6. 



Section ii. of Canon 6 of Title II. was amended so as to read 
as follows : 

§ ii. And if such declaration be not made within six months, 
as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the Bishop to depose said 
Minister from the Ministry, and to pronounce and record, in 
the presence of two or more Presbyters, that he has been so 
deposed : Provided, nevertbeless, that if the Minister so re- 
nouncing shall transmit to the Bishop receiving the certificate 
a retraction of the acts or declarations constituting his offence, 
the Bishop may, at his discretion, abstain from any further pro- 
ceedings. 



%xih IL— Canon 10. 



Section ii. of Canon 10 of Title II. was amended so as to read 
as follows : 

§ ii. [1.] When any Minister is deposed from the Holy 
Ministry, he is deposed therefrom entirely, and not from a 
hifjher to a lower Order in the same ; and whenever a Minister 
shall be deposed, the Bishop who pronounces sentence shall, 
without delay, give notice thereof to every Minister and Vestry 
in the Diocese, and also to all the Bishops of this Church, and 
where there is no Bishop, to the Standing Committee ; and the 
notice shall specify under what Canon the said Minister has 
been deposed. 

[3.] Deposition, displacing, and all like expressions are the 
same as degradation. 



Cttle IL— Canon 11. 



Section ii. of Canon 11 of Title II. was amended so as to read 
as follows : 

§ ii. A Bishop of this Church may, for reasons which he 
shall deem suflBcient, remit and terminate any sentence of de- 
position or degradation pronounced by him upon a Presbyter 



^iilki. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 309 



or Deacon ; but he sliall exercise this power only upon the 
followinof conditions: — 

First, That he shall act with the unanimous advice and con- 
sent of his Standing Committee, 

Second, That he shall first submit his proposed action, with his 
reasons therefor, to the judtrment of five of the Bishops of this 
Church, whose Dioceses or Missionary Jurisdictions are nearest 
to his own, and shall receive in writing, from at least four of 
said Bishops, their approval of the said remission and their 
consent thereto. 

Third, That before remitting such sentence he shall require 
the person to be restored to the Ministry to subscribe the 
declaration set forth in Article 7 of the Constitution. 

Fourth, That in case such person was deposed for abandon- 
ing the Communion of this Church, or having been deposed by 
reason of his renunciation of the Ministry of this Church, or for 
other cause, he have also abandoned its Communion, the Bishop, 
before granting such remission, shall be satisfied that such per- 
son has lived in lay-communion with this Church for three 
years next preceding his application for such remission ; and, 

Fifth, That in case the person applying for such remission 
shall reside out of the Diocese or Missionary District in which 
he was deposed, the Bishop, before granting such remission, 
shall be furnished with written evidence of the approval of 
of such application by the Bishop of the Diocese or District in 
which sach person resides. 



%xih II.— Canon 13. 

Canon 13 of Title II. was amended so as to read as follows : 

Of Marriage and Divorce. 

§ i. If any persons be joined together otherwise than as God's 
"Word doth allow, their marriage is not lawful. 

§ iii. No Minister, knowingly after due inquiry, shall solem- 
nize the marriage of any person who has a divorced husband or 
wife still living, if such husband or wife has been put away 
for any cause arising after marriage ; but this Canon shall not 
be held to apply to the innocent party in a divorce for the 
cause of adultery, or to parties once divorced seeking to be 
united again. 

§ iii. If any Minister of this Church shall have reasonable 
cause to doubt whether a person desirous of being admitted 
to Holy Baptism, or to Confirmation, or to the Holy Com- 



310 THE GENEEAL CONVENTION 



munion, lias been married otherwise tlian as the Word of God 
and discipline of this Church allow, such Minister, before re- 
ceivinji: such person to these ordinances, shall refer the case to 
the Bishop for his godly judgment thereupon. Provided, how- 
ever. That no Minister shall, in any case, refuse the Sacra- 
ments to a penitent person in imminent danger of death. 

§ iv. Questions touching the facts of any case arising under 
Section ii. of this Canon shall be referred to the Bishop of the 
Diocese or Missionary Jurisdiction in which the same may 
occur ; or if there be no Bishop of such Diocese or Missionary 
Jurisdiction, then to some Bishop to be designated by the 
Standing Committee ; and the Bishop to whom such questions 
have been so referred shall thereupon make inquiry in such 
manner as he shall deem expedient, and shall deliver his 
judgment in the premises. 

^5 V. This Canon, so far as it affixes penalties, does not apply 
to cases occurring before it takes effect according to Canon 4, 
Title IV. 



Citle in.— Canon 1. 

Clause [3] of Section ii. of Canon 1 of Title III. was amended 
so as to read as follows : 

[3.] It shall be the duty of the said Registrar to procure a 
proper and sufficient book of record, and to enter therein a 
record of the Consecrations of all the Bishops of this Church, 
designating accurately the time and place of the same, with 
the names of the Consecrating Bishops, and of others present 
and assisting ; to have the same authenticated in the fullest 
manner now practicable ; and to take care for the similar record 
and authentication of all future Consecrations in this Church, 
by securing in person, or by deputy, at ihe time and place of 
every such Consecration, a certificate signed by the Bishop 
presiding, and by two or more of the Bishops assisting in the 
said Consecration, which certificate shall be entered in the said 
book of record under the attestation of a Notary Public, and 
also placed on file. 



Cttle III.— Canon 5. 

Clause [11] of Section iii. of Canon 5 of Title III. was amended 
so as to read as follows : 

[11.] No Clergyman shall be allowed to take charge of such 
Congregation until he shall have been nominated by the Vestry 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 311 

thereof (or, if there be no sucli Vestry, by tlie Standing Com- 
mittee, provided for by tliis Canon), and approved by the Bishop 
in cliarg'e ; and when such appointment shall liave been ac- 
cepted by the Clerjryman so appointed, lie shall be transferred 
to the jurisdiction of the Bishop in charge. 
Clause [12] of Section iii. of Canon 5 of Title III. is repealed. 



Citle III.— Canon 9. 

Canon 9 of Title III. was amended so as to read as follows : 

Of the Constitution of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary So- 
ciety of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States 
of America. 

§ i. The Constitution of the said Society, which was incor- 
corporated by an Act of the Legislature of the State of New 
York, is hereby amended and established so as to read as 
follows : 

Constitution of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary . Society of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of 
America, as established in 1820, and since amended at various 
times. 

Article 1. This institution shall be denominated The Do- 
mestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church in the United States of America. 

Article II. This Society shall be considered as comprehend- 
ing all persons who are members of this Church. 

Article III. There shall be a Board of Missions of such 
Society, composed of the Bishops of this Church, and the mem- 
bers for the time beinpf of the House of Deputies of the Gen- 
eral Convention of this Church, Bishops and Deputies sitting 
apart as in General Convention, or together when they shall so 
decide. The Board of Missions thus constituted shall convene 
on the third day of the session of the General Convention, and 
shall sit from time to time as the business of the Board shall 
demand. 

Article IV, There shall be a Board of Managers, comprising 
all the Bishops as members ex officio, and fifte.en Presbyters 
and fifteen laymen, to be appointed by the Board of Missions at 
every triennial meeting of the General Convention, who shall 
have the management of the General Missions of this Church, 
and shall remain in office until their successors are chosen, and 
shall have power to fill any vacancies that may occur in their 



312 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



number. Eight Clerical members anc! eioflit Lay members 
shall constitute a quorum. This Board of Managers shall, 
during the recess of the Convention, exercise all the corporate 
powers of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society. The 
Board of Managers shall report to the General Convention, 
constituted as a Board of Missions, on or before the third day 
of the session of the General Convention. But nothing herein 
contained shall affect the rights of any surviving life-members 
of the Board of Missions. 

Article V. The Board of Managers is authorized to form, 
from its own members, a Committee for Domestic Missions and 
a Committee for Foreign Missions, and such other Committees 
as it may deem desirable to promote special Missionary work, 
and is also authorized to appoint such officers as shall be need- 
ful for carrying on the work. 

Article VI. The Board of Managers is intrusted with power 
to establish and regulate such Missions as are not placed under 
Episcopal supervision, and to enact all by-laws which it may 
deem necessary for its own government and for the government 
of its Committees : Provided, altcays, that in relation to organ- 
ized Dioceses and Missionary Jurisdictions having Bishops, the 
appropriations sliall ba made in gross to such Dioceses and Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions, to be disbursed by the local authorities 
thereof. The Board shall notify to the several Bishops the 
gross sums so appropriated ; and those Bishops shall regulate 
the number of Mission Stations, appoint the Missionaries, and 
assio^n to them their stipends, with the approval of the Board 
of Managers. 

Article VII. No person shall be appointed a Missionary 
who is not at the time a Minister of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church of regular standing ; but nothing in this section pre- 
cludes the Committees from making pecuniary appropriations 
in aid of Missions under the care of other Churches in com- 
munion with this Church, or of employing laymen or women, 
members of this Church, to do Missionary work. 

Article VIII, The Board of Managers is authorized to pro- 
mote the formation of auxiliary Missionary Associations, whose 
contributions, as well as those specially appropriated by indi- 
viduals, shall be received and paid in accordance with the wish 
of the donors, when expressed in writing. It shall be the duty 
of the Board of Managers to arrange for public Missionary 
meetings, to be held at the same time and place as the 
General Convention, and at such other times and places as may 
be determined upon, to which all auxiliaries approved by the 
Board of Managers may send one Clerical and one Lay Dele- 
gate. 

Articles IX. This Constitution may be altered or amended 
at any time by the General Convention of this Church. 

§ ii. All Canons, and all action by or under the authority of 



OF THE AMEEICAN CHUKCH. 313 



tlie General Convention, so far as inconsistent witli tlie pro- 
visions of tbis Canon and of such amended Constitution, are 
hereby repealed ; Provided, hoice'Der, that nothing herein shall in 
any manner impair or aifect any corporate rights of the said. 
Society, or any vested right whatever. 
§ ill. This Canon shall take effect immediately. 



Citle IV.— Cakot^ 2. 

Canon 2 of Title IV. was amended so as to read as follows : 
Of the Enactment, Amendment, and Repeal of Canons. 

§ i. In all cases of future enactment, the same, if by way 
of amendment of an existing provision, shall be in the follow- 
ing form : "Title — , Canon — , Section — , Clause — , is hereby 
amended so as to read as follows." And if the enactment-is of 
an additional Clause, Section, or Canon, it shall be designated as 
the next Canon or next Section, or next Clause of a Canon or 
Section, in the order of numberinjr of the Title to which the 
subject properly belongs ; and if a Canon or Section or Clause be 
stricken out, the existing numbering shall be retained until a 
new edition of the Canons be directed, or until changed as in 
the next Section provided. 

§ ii. The Committee on Canons of each House of the Gen- 
eral Convention shall, at the close of each Session of the General 
Convention, appoint two of their number to certify the changes, 
if any, made in the Canons, including a correction of the refer- 
ences made in any Canon to another, and to report the same, 
with the proper arrangement thereof, to the Secretary, who 
shall print the same in the Journal. 

The discussion of certain memorials and resolutions 
advocating the change of the name of the Church by 
the removal of the words ^^ Protestant Episcopal" was 
followed in each House by action practically unani- 
mous in its refusal to entertain such a proposition. 
On the matter of Christian education the following 
ing resolution was adopted : 

Resolved, That it is the solemn conviction of this General 
Convention in both Houses, that it is the duty of the Clergy and 



814 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Laity of tlie Cliurcli to take, so far as the opportunity is afforded 
tliem, an active interest in the public schools provided by the 
State, veith the purpose of extending the important benefits of 
a secular education to all our citizens, and of diffusing, side by 
side vs'itli these, as much of religious influence and instruction 
as possible ; to supplement them v^ith thorough Christian 
teaching elsewhere, and to add proper Church schools and in- 
stitutions for the whole and more complete work of education, 
wherever they are needed, and the means for their support can 
be commanded. 

The adoption of the ^^ Table of Affinity" in the 
English '' Prayer-Book " was discussed at length, as 
were also the subjects of ^^ Sisterhoods" and '' Brother- 
hoods," and measures looking toward securing ^^ godly 
discipline" among the communing members of the 
Church. On these points definite action failed, as it 
also did respecting Synods of Dioceses and Suffragan 
Bishops, and the proposed addition of a suffrage to the 
Litany asking the Lord of the Harvest to send forth 
laborers into His harvest. 

The resignation of the Et. Rev. William F. Adams, 
D.D., as Missionary Bishop of New Mexico and Ari- 
zona, was accepted by the House of Bishoj)s, and the 
Convention elected the Rev. David Buel Knicker- 
backer, D.D., of Minnesota, to the vacant see. Action 
was taken permitting the use, in place of the lessons 
designated in the Calendar, of those reported by the 
Joint Committee on theLectionary for Lent, and also 
allowing the use of the new English Lectionary at the 
option of the clergyman until the next General Con- 
vention. 

A Joint Committee of the last General Convention 
presented the following important report, the con- 
sideration of wJiicli was laid over until the subsequent 



OF THE AMEKICAX CIIUKCH. 315 

session. Its bearing upon questions continually 
mooted warrants its presentation in full in our pages : 

The Force of Joint Resolutions. 

" Tlie terms * Constitutions ' and ' Canons ' are tbe usual appro- 
priate terms for those acts of ecclesiastical legislation which 
declare a rule or measure of conduct, and are prospective in 
operation. In ancient councils, in the mass of laws in the 
English Annals, found in Johnson's Collections from the year 
740, these are the terms employed. Rescripts, decretals, and 
capitularies are edicts of particular powers, of a more local 
character. The term 'joint resolutions' is known in our own 
civil and ecclesiastical legislation. Under the Constitution of 
the United States, Article IV., a new State may he admitted 
into the Union by Congress. 

" This has been done sometimes by a joint resolution of the 
two Houses, as in the case of Indiana in 1816, Illinois in 1818, 
and Texas in 1845 ; sometimes by Act of Congress, as in the 
instances of Maine, Kentucky, and Michigan. 

" But by the seventh Section of Article 3, every order, reso- 
lution, or vote, to which the concurrence of the two Houses is 
necessary (except questions of adjournment) shall be approved 
by the President, or, if disapproved, repassed by two thirds, etc. 

" Thus all three are placed on the same footing. The fifth 
Article of the Constitution of the Church provides that new 
Dioceses may be admitted into union. 

"This has been carried out by joint resolution. The case of 
Arkansas (1871) is an example. A Section of a Canon of 1874 
regulates this matter to some extent. 

" Joint resolutions may be classed under several heads : 

" (1.) There is a class expresive of sympathy, congratulation, 
or courtesy merely. 

" The cases of intercourse with the Church of Sweden (1857), 
and as to the Russo-Greek Church (1874), are examples. 

" (2 ) Resolutions recommending a particular action or course 
of conduct to the members of the Church, or bodies of it. We 
have instances in the resolutioa as to almsgiving on the first 
day of the week (1859), and as to Associate Rectors (1808). 

" (8.) There are numerous instances of joint resolutions 
merely expressing an opinion of the two Houses that particular 
pract ces should be avoided, or particular measures pursued. 
The action in 1859, as to almsgiving, was of this character. 
That of 1841, as to free sittings, was similar. 

" The opinion of the House of Bishops sought for by the 
House of Deputies, on Ceremonies and Rubrics, may be thus 
classed. 

" (4.) We have a class which relates to the General Conven- 



316 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 



tion as an organized body — the mode of action of itself and its 
agencies. 

" The admission of new Dioceses, the action as to Board of 
Missions, Tlieological Seminary, etc, niay^ be thus arranfjed. 

" (5.) But there is a body of joint resolutions which on their 
face liave the character of a positive act of legislation. 

" In 1808 it was jointly resolved that it is the sense of this 
Church that it is inconsistent with the law of God, and there- 
fore the Ministers of this Church shaU not unite in matrimony 
any person who is divorced, unless such divorce have been 
granted on account of the adultery of the other party. And it 
was also resolved that the Ministers of this Church, ought not 
to perform the funeral service in the case of any person who 
shall give or accept a challenge to a duel. In 1856, in the 
House of Deputies, a resolution was referred, to consider the 
propriety of preparing a Canon which should effectually accom- 
plish the objects of the resolutions of 1808, above cited. 

" The Committee on Canons reported that it was inexpedient 
to legislate on the subject of marriage with a divorced person, 
and on the subject of duelling proposed a Canon forbidding the 
reading of the burial service over the body of one who had 
died of a wound received in a duel, unless lie had evinced sin- 
cere repentance. The House refused to accept the Canon. 

" In 1868 a Committee of the House of Bishops upon Marriage 
and Divorce made a Report, in which they recited the resolu- 
tion of 1808 as *an opinion pronounced by the General Conven- 
tion,' and submitted a Canon upon the subject of Divorce. 
This was unanimously adopted, and after some amendments in 
the other House, was passed as it is now in force. (See Canon 
13, Title II.) 

" The resolution of 1808, as to marrying a divorced party, wag 
as imperative in language as the Canon of 1868 ; yet the House 
of Bishops treat it as an opinion only, and there is no trace in 
our Church annals of its having been treated as a law. 

** Again, we have a joint resolution of the General Convention, 
adopted in 1865, that it is the sense of this Church that it is 
incompatible with the duty, position, and sacred calling of the 
Clergy to bear arms. 

" The Committee on Canons had reported a Canon on the sub- 
ject. This Report was recommitted^ with instructions to re- 
port, instead of a Canon, a declaratory resolution in nearly its 
present form. 

" In 1874 a joint resolution of both Houses expresses their 
opinion that the services are separable. 

" If this matter were to be discussed on general principles 
alone, and the effect of joint resolutions were to be now for the 
first time determined, there seems to be no good reason why a 
joint resolution which commands or prohibits should not have, 
in our legislation, the same force and effect as a Canon. 



OF THE AMERICAN CIIUECH. 317 

** In many of the United States of America their Constitutions 
provide an enacting' clause, and tlie use of that is necessary for 
tlie passage of a law in those States, Our Constitution says 
nothing ahout an enacting clause, or the form of words neces- 
sary to create a law or Canon. This Convention uses, in pass- 
ing a Canon and in passing a joint resolution, the same word, 
' resolve.' Where a Canon is intended to be passed, the word 
* Canon ' is also used. 

" Revie\ving tlie action of this Convention since its organiza- 
tion, in regard to joint resolutions, we find, however, 

" 1. That no penalty has ever been provided in any joint 
resolution passed by it. 

"2. That in Canon 2, Title II., which sets forth the offences 
for which Ministers may be tried and punished, it is provided 
that every Minister maybe tried and punished for the violation 
of the Constitution and Canons of the General Convention, but 
no provision is made for the violation of a joint resolution. 

" 3. That at different times one of the constituent Houses of 
this Convention has, in direct words, declared a joint resolution 
to be the mere expression of the opinion of the Convention, and 
that both Houses appear to have always given that construction 
to a joint resolution. 

"4. That this Convention has refused to pass Canons sub- 
mitted to it on certain subjects, and has passed, immediately 
thereafter, joint resolutions, in almost the same words used in 
the proposed Canons. 

" 5. That it has passed Canons for the expressed purpose of 
putting into the form of law that which had theretofore been 
merely in the form of joint resolutions. 

** In view of these precedents, and this long-continued and un- 
varying construction given by the Convention to joint resolu- 
tions, this committee recommend the adoption of the following 

"Resolutions. 

"Firsts That the joint resolutions heretofore passed by the 
General Convention have never been deemed to have, and 
ought not to be construed as having, the force of law, but as 
being merely the expression of an opinion. 

" Second, That in view of the different doctrine prevailing in 
the civil courts of our country, and to remove all doubt for the 
future, an amendment should be made to the Constitution, 
which will require all future legislation to be by Canon. 

" 7hird, That a joint resolution professing to interpret a law 
is only an opinion, of great weight indeed, but not obligatory." 

Action in the matter of shortened services for 
Morning and Evening Prayer, which was taken by 



318 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

each. House, failed to become law because of a differ- 
ence of opinion as to the proper mode of effecting the 
end desired. The report of the Committee on the 
State of the Church noticed the decease of the Rt. Rev. 
Dr. Johns, Bishop of Virginia, and the addition of 
twelve to the House of Bishops during the three years 
last past ; the diminished lists of candidates for '^ Holy 
Orders ;" and the ^'growing indisposition to frequent 
the House of Cod on more than one occasion of pub- 
lic worship each Sunday." The Committee recom- 
mended the use of the Prayer Book " for the opening 
and closing of Sunday-schools as the best means of 
securing the interest of children in the worship of the 
Church ; " urged the establishment ** everywhere" of 
" free and open churches ; " and called for the increase 
on the part of churchmen of ^^a living, loving sympa- 
thy, which smiles, recognizes, and takes by the hand 
the humble, the ignorant, and the unfortunate, so 
that we may teach the world that, like the Master, we 
are trying to ^ seek and save the lost/ " After com- 
mending the Church's mission work in the various 
departments to the interest and support of the faith- 
ful, the report thus closed : 

" The Committee feel that the Church's great and important 
Council is closing its deliberations under circumstances that 
are exceptional and very extraordinary, which call for expres- 
sions of devoutest praise and gratitude. Kindness, forbearance, 
courtesy, harmony, and love are not too strong words with 
which to Bpeak of our proceedings, intercourse, and acts. We 
know from what source comes the influence that ' makes men 
to be of one mind in one house ;' and we therefore desire to 
ascribe to the Holy One the glory of all. And now, that we 
have seen what power is gained by unity of action and fraternal 
concord, let us take care that we do not again * fall out by the 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 319 

way,' but do our Lord's work with mutual good-will, confi- 
dence, and love, and we will realize tlie full blessing of that 
Master's prayer, 'That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, 
art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us, that 
the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.' " 

The number of clergy reported, and certain other 
items, showed a slight decrease in consequence of the 
failure of two Dioceses and four Jurisdictions to make 
report, but in other respects, particularly in its exhi- 
bition of a widespread charity, the statistical exhibit 
was most encouraging, and called for devout gratitude 
to God. The Pastoral Letter read at the close of the 
session closed with these felicitous words : 

" It has pleased Almighty God, in His wise and wonderful 
providence, to place side by side on this continent two colonies 
of the most vigorous race of men. Coming to America at pe- 
riods somewhat distant and under very unlike circumstances, 
yet they are contiguous to each other, and their territories 
reach through many degrees of latitude, and stretch from ocean 
to ocean across the continent. The churches of the United 
States and of the Dominion, both deriving their origin through 
the Church of England, and adopting from her Reformation 
their government, ministry, and liturgy, form two branches of 
the same Church of Christ in North America, which traces its 
history back to the apostles' times. The last twenty-five years 
have brought us very near together — never so near as during 
this session of our General Convention. The delegation from 
this sister Church you have received with the honor and warm 
affection due alike to their mission and their personal character ; 
and we feel that they have left a benediction behind them. 

" It has pleased the Great Head of the Church to place in the 
hands of the two branches thereof the sacred deposit of His 
word, His sacraments, and His ministry, to be used for the 
benefit of the millions who are crowding into Nortli America. 
Well may we exclaim, ' Who is sufficient for these things? ' 

"By the help of Almighty God, and in the power of His 



320 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Spirit, we may present tlie Church in her life, her services, and 
her teachings, purely, simply, and with efifect, in every portion 
of this continent. In our North and Southwestern States and 
Territories, and in the Dominion of Canada, every acre of land 
is now covered by the jurisdiction of a Bishop of the Anglican 
Communion. Our Episcopal organization affords us great ad- 
vantages. Every movement is guided by a wise forecast, and 
experience teaches us that the rough miner, and the bold hunts- 
man of the West, when aroused to a sense of the value of his 
soul, easily learns, and soon prefers, to worship his reconciled 
Father in the forms of our liturgy. 

'• Up, then, brethren ! The land is large, and it is a goodly 
land which the Lord hath blessed. Up ! enter in, and possess 
it." 



OF THE AMERIGAN CHURCH. 821 



THE CONYEN"TION OF 1880. 

The General Convention of 1880 met in the city 
of New York under circumstances of great interest. 
There gathered to attend its sessions a representa- 
tion of Bishops, Clergy, and Laity, larger by far 
than ever before. The interest felt abroad in our 
catholicity was attested by the presence of the Rt. 
Rev. Dr. Edward Herzog, the Christian -Catholic 
Bishop of Switzerland, who was, by his participa- 
tion in the services, sacraments, and sessions of the 
Convention, brought into intimate relations with a 
Church, Catholic but not Roman — Protesting, but 
neither rationalistic nor infidel. The Rt. Rev. Dr. 
Henry Cotterill, Bishop of Edinburgh, represented 
the Church in Scotland, from which less than a 
century since we received the Apostolic Succession 
in the person of Samuel Seabury, first Bishop of 
Connecticut. The Bishop of Huron, the Rt. Rev, 
Dr. Hellmuth, who was in attendance with a depur 
tation from the Canadian Church, also received a 
hearty welcome. 

The officers of both Houses were the same as at 
the preceding session, with the exception of the 
Rev. Dr. E. Edwards Beardsley, of Connecticut, 
who succeeded to the Presidency of the House of 
Deputies in the place of the Rev. Dr. Burgess, who 



322 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

had been consecrated to the Bishopric of Quincj, 
111., during the interim. 

The Convention assembled for its opening ser- 
vices in St. George's Chm'ch, Stujvesant Square, 
and held its business sessions in the Church of the 
Holy Trinity, on Madison Avenue, which, with its 
chapel and offices, was most admirably adapted for 
the purposes of the Convention, as it is to the 
necessities and activities of a working and energetic 
parish. At the opening service the sermon was 
preached by the Bishop of California, Dr. Kip. 
The Bishop of Edinburgh and Bishop TIerzog, the 
latter vested in his alb and richly embroidered cope, 
and wearing his pectoral cross, took part in the ser- 
vices, and united with the American Bishops in 
the reception and administration *of the Sacrament. 
A marked feature of this session was the prominence 
given to the mission-work of the Church, several 
days having been devoted to the proceedings of the 
General Convention sitting as the Board of Mis- 
sions. The Missionary Episcopate received a large 
accession ; the Rev. George K. Dunlop, of Missouri, 
being elected to the jurisdiction of Kew Mexico 
and Arizona, in place of the Kev. Dr. Knicker- 
backer, who had declined the appointment ; the 
Bev. Legh R. Brewer, of Central New York, be- 
ing elected to the jurisdiction of Montana, which 
was taken from that of Utah and Wyoming, and the 
Rev. Dr. John A. Paddock, of Long Island, being 
elected Missionary Bishop of Washington, taken 
from the jurisdiction of Oregon. A long-deferred 
measure of aggressive effort was undertaken in the 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUKOH. 323 

organization uf a general Clinrcli-Building Society 
on tlie plan of an earlier association, '' The Western 
Chnrcli- Building Society." In fact, for tlie first 
time in the history of our legislation, the Mission- 
ary Bishops, both of the home and foreign field, 
and those Western Bishops into whose sees the tide 
of immigration is pouring with unexampled rapidity, 
found both a welcome and a hearing in the presence 
of the representatives of the Church at large, and 
could tell the story of the spiritual needs of their 
jurisdictions, and the difficulties and trials environ- 
ing them in their arduous work, as opportunity was 
never offered before. As a result, the Church in 
Convention assembled awoke to a desire, and in- 
augurated efforts, to make herself the Church of the 
land and the Church of the people, entering with 
full purpose of heart and greater vigor than ever 
before into the work of missions at home, abroad, 
everywhere. 

The advantages arising from the sitting together 
of tlie two Houses of the Convention as a Board of 
Missions were utilized to bring before the Church 
the need of a more adequate provision for the aged 
and infirm clergy and for the families of deceased 
ministers ; while the permission granted to the com- 
mittees of the two Ilouses having in charge impor- 
tant subjects in common, to meet together for their 
consideration, proved of essential service in short- 
ening debates and expediting business when the re- 
ports were under discussion in the respective Houses. 

The following important preamble and resolu- 
tion, adopted in the House of Bishops, was fol- 



324 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

lowed by the appointment of a joint committee to 
make arrangements for a fitting observance of the 
liistoric events thus noticed : 

" WJiereas, Prior to the next session of the General Convention, 
the one hundredtlj anniversary of the earliest attempts for organ- 
ization on the part of the clergy of the Ameiican Church will 
occur, to wit, the centennial of the election by the clergy of the 
first Bishop of Connecticut, at Woodbury, on the 25th of March, 
1783, and the meeting of the clergy of Maryland at Washington 
College, May 13-15, 1783, and that on the 13th of August in the 
same year in which the Declaration of Fundamental Eights of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church of Maryland was enacted ; 
and wJiereas, there will occur in the following triennium the 
one hundredth anniversaries of the first convention of clergy 
and laity held in this country, to wnt, that assembled in Chiist 
Church, Philadelphia, May 24, 1784, and the more general 
meeting of representatives of the Church in a number of States 
in the city of New York, October 6-9, 1784, the consecration 
of the first Bishop of Connecticut at the hands of the bishops 
of the Church in Scotland, November 14, 1784, and the first 
Geneial Convention of the Church in the Middle and Southern 
States in September and October, 1785 ; and in the following 
triennium the consecrations of the first Bishops of Pennsyl- 
vania and New York in the chapel at Lambeth, February 4, 
1787, the completion of organization of the American Church 
by the union of all its members in the Convention of 1789 on 
the 2d of October, and the adoption of its general ecclesiastical 
constitution and the completion of its apostolic college ; and, 
whereas, it is eminently fitting that a period at once so interest- 
ing and important should be made the occasion of solemn 
thanksgiving to Almighty God, and opportunity should be 
afforded for the general Tec;.ption of the grateful offerings of 
the people of God ; therefore, be it 

" Resolved, That the whole subject of our approaching centen- 
nial anniversaries be committed to a committee of this House 
to prepare and report on plans for the suitable commemoration 
of these historical events, the said plans, when reported, to be 
communicated to the House of Deputies for their approval and 
co-opeiation." 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 325 

An important report on the functions of rectors 
and wardens and vestrymen, in the control and ad- 
ministration of parishes, presented in tlie House of 
Bishops by the Bishop of Pennsylvania, and in the 
House of Deputies by the Rev. Dr. Dix, laid down 
the following " few plain principles :'' 

" 1st. The Church existed before any parishes. 

" 2d. The clergy was set apart, as an order, before any 
parishes existed. 

" 3d. The Church and the ministry are divine in their ori- 
gin, perpetual in their existence, and essential to the mainte- 
nance of the Redeemer's kingdom. 

" 4th. The parish is purely a human institution, organized 
diversely in diverse lands, a creature of civil law or conven- 
tional arrangement, having no divine authority or obligation. 

'* 5th. The wardens and vestry are not, and cannot lawfully 
or scripturally be, masters and rulers of the clergy, but they 
are auxiliary to the clergy as important adjuncts and aids in 
the work in which they have been set by the Holy Ghost." 

This report recommended that in each diocese the 
rector should be the head of the corporation, and 
that the wardens and a majority at least of the 
vestrymen should be communicants ; it also advo- 
cated that the Bishops should have '^ some concur- 
rent action with the vestry in the choice of the minis- 
ter, ' ' and closed with the following opinions, to wit : 

" First. As to the functions of the rector in the control and 
administration of parishes. 

" 1st, The rector has control over the church buildings so 
far as it respects the use of them as places of worship and for 
carrying on the necessary parochial work of the parish. 

" 2d. The rector is the head of the parish — its head ecclesi- 
astically and its head legally, except where otherwise stated by 
the law of the State or the charter of the church or parish, and 
he should, therefore, when present, preside at vestry meetings. 



326 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

" 3d. The rector has the right to claim and enjoy ' the ac- 
customed temporalities- of the Church,' as stipulated at the 
time of his settlement or call, and which constitute a virtual 
contract of full legal and moral force binding upon both parties. 

** 4th. The rector is responsible for the due discharge of 
his oflScial duties and cleiical conduct to the ecclesiastical 
authority of the diocese only — a fact thus stated in (he Institu- 
tion Office when it charges the Instituted Minister to bear in 
mind that he is * accountable to the ecclesiastical authority of 
the Church here and to the Chief Bishop and Sovereign Judge 
of all hereafter, ' and any complaint against a rector in refer- 
ence to his teaching or ministeiing must be made to the Ordi- 
nary of the Diocese. 

" Second. As to the functions of wardens and vestries. 
These are, in the opinion of the committee : 

*' 1st. That they have the charge and guardianship of all the 
corporate rights and property of the parish, as specified by 
State legislation or church charters, or diocesan canons. 

" 2d. That they have the right to elect a rector or assistant 
minister, and to ask (under the provision of § 1, Can. 14, Title 
1) to have bim, if the bishop be so disposed, * instituted accord- 
ing to the office established by this Church, if that office be 
used in the diocese.' 

*' 3d. That they are legally and morally bound to secure to 
the rector or minister the accustomed temporalities of the 
Church set apart for his proper maintenance and support. 

**4th. That thej' are to aid the rector, by all the secular 
means at their command, in maintaining the services of the 
Church, and the other usual agencies for strengthening and en- 
larging the parish. 

" 5th. That in order to discharge these functions connected 
with the House of God, the support of the ministry and the 
worship of the Church, it is eminently proper that those only 
should be intrusted with such solemn duties who are them- 
selves communicants of the Church, and who feel the spiritual 
as well as the legal responsibility resting upon them." 

In direct legislation, sncli as changes in the 
Canons, little was done. Canon 9 of Title III., 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 327 

^^ Of the Constitution of the Domestic and Foreign 
Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal 
Churgh in the United States of America," was 
amended so as to inchide as members of the Board 
of Missions the delegates from the Missionary Juris- 
diction to the Honse of Deputies, and the members 
of the Board of Managers, with the secretaries and 
treasurers of the two committees. Some other 
shght modiiications of this Canon were adopted. 
Section II. of Canon 1 of Title III., defining the 
duties of the Registrar, was also amended so as to 
provide with more care for the safety of the 
archives of the Church and the record of Episcopal 
consecrations. An additional section (Section lY.) 
was added to Canon 1 of Title II., declaring it '^ to 
be the duty of all members of the Church to attend 
and give evidence when duly summoned to do so in 
any ecclesiastical trial or investigation under the 
authority of this Church. ' ' Provision was made for 
shortened services by the adoption of the following 
resolution, looking to the amendment of the ratifi- 
cation of the Book of Common Prayer : 

" Resolved, That the ratification of the Book of Common 
Prayer be amended so as to rend as follows, and that such pro- 
posed amendment be made known to the several Diocesan 
Conventions, in order that it may be adopted in the next Gen- 
eral Convention according to Article 8 of the Constitution : 

" THE RATIFICATION OP THE BOOK OF COMMON PKAYER. 

" By the Bishops, the Clergy, and the Laity of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church iu the United States of America, in General 
Convention assembled : 

" The General Convention of this Church having heretofore, 



328 THE GENEKAL CONVENTION 

to wit, on the 16th day of October, a d. 1789, set forth und 
established A Book of Common Prayer and Administialion of 
the Rites and Ceremonies of the Chuich, and declared it to be 
the Liturgy of this Church, and required that it be rfeeived 
as such by all the members of the same, and be in use from 
and after the 1st day of October, a.d. 1790, the same book is 
hereby ratified and confirmed, and ordered to be the use of this 
Church from this time forth. 

" But note, however, that on days other than Sunday, 
Christmas Day, the Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, 
and the Ascension Day, it shall sutfice if the minister begin 
Morning or Evening Prayer at the General Confession or the 
Lord's Prayer, preceded by one or more of the sentences ap- 
pointed at the beginning of Morning and Evening Prayer, and 
end after the Collect for Grace or the Collect for Aid against 
Perils, vrith 2 Cor. 13, 14, using so much of the lessons ap- 
pointed for the day and so much of the Psalter as shall be for 
edification. 

" And note, also, that on any. day when Morning and Even- 
ing Prayer shall have been duly said, or are to be said, and 
upon days other than those first aforementioned, it shall sufiice, 
when need may require, if a Sermon or Lecture be preceded 
by at least the Lord's Prayer and one or more Collects found 
in this book, provided that no prayeis not set forth in said 
book shall be used before or after such sermon or lecture. 
And note further, also, that on any day the Morning Prayer, 
the Litany, or the Order for the Administration of the Lord's 
Supper may be used as a separate and independent service, pro- 
vided that no one of these services shall be disused habitually." 

The Convention g&ve its consent to the forma- 
tion of a federate conncil, composed of the three di- 
oceses within the State of Illinois, and approved of 
the exercise bj it of the following powers : 

" 1st. The charge and care of such educational and charitable 
institutions as it may canonically establish, or as may be placed 
under its jurisdiction. 

" 2d. The charge and conduct of matters pertaining to the 
extension of the Church, such as the work of church building 



OF THE AMERICAN" CHURCH. 329 

and the assistance of feeble parishes and missions, so far as 
these matters may be intrusted to it. 

"3d. The acceptance and administration of all funds and 
donations of any kind which may be given or intrusted to it. 

"4th. And the said federate council shall have full power to 
enact all regulations necessary to its organization and continu- 
ance, and to the ends contemplated by the foregoing declara- 
tion, not inconsistent with or repugnant to the constitution or 
canons of the General Conventions of this Church or of any 
one of the dioceses concerned, or to the law of the rubric as 
contained in the Book of Common Prayer and offices of this 
Church." 

The name of tlie Joint Committee on Ecclesiasti- 
cal Relations and Religions Reform was changed to 
the Commission on Ecclesiastical Relations ; and 
that of the Joint Committee on Christian Education 
to that of " Education nnder the Auspices and Con- 
trol of the Protestant Episcopal Church. " It was 

" Besolved, That a joint committee, to consist of seven 
Bishops, seven presbyters, and seven laymen, be appointed to 
consider and report to the next General Convention whether, in 
view of the fact that this Church is about to enter upon the 
second century of its organized existence in this country, the 
changed conditions of the national life do not demand altera- 
tions in the Book of Common Prayer in the direction of liturgi- 
cal enrichment and increased flexibility of use." 

Under this resolution the following committee 
was appointed : The Bishops of Connecticut, Al- 
bany, Western !N"ew York, Pennsylvania, Easton, 
Central New York, and Florida ; the Rev. Drs. Hun- 
tington of Massachusetts, Dalrjmple of Maryland, 
Goodwin of Pennsylvania, Dix of New York, Har- 
wood of Connecticut, Garrison of New Jersey, 
Harison of Albany ; Messrs. Fish of New York, 
Coppee of Central Pennsylvania, Sheffey of Yir- 



330 IHE GENERAL COKVEKTION 

ginia, Wilder of Minnesota, Andrews of Southern 
Ohio, J. M. Smith of Western New York, and 
Burgwin of Pittsburg. 

The following resolution in regard to the exist- 
ence of polygamy in the Territory of Utah was 
passed : 

" Whereas, The work of tbe Church of Christ and the 
best interests of the Christian civilizatit n are seriously im- 
peded in one of the Territories of the United States by the ex- 
istence of polygamy, recognized by a large majority of the 
community as a religious institution ; and whereas, polygamy 
is not only contrary to the law of God, but is also forbidden 
under severe penalties in the Territories of the United States by 
act of Congress, which act has been declared constitutional by 
the Supreme Court of the United States ; therefore, be it 

" Resolved, That while there are peculiar difficulties in the 
execution of this law, owing to the religious fanaticism by 
which the institution of polygamy is upheld, and especially to 
the fact that the interests of many innocent persons are unhap- 
pily involved, it is still the duty of every Christian and every 
citizen of this republic to use what influence he can to bring 
about, as speedily as possible, a merciful but firm enforcement 
of the law in regard to polygamy, or bigamy, in the Territory 
of Utah." 

A joint committee was appointed ^'to observe 
what action is taken by government for extending 
to" the Indians legal protection of their civil rights, 
and placing them under obedience to the law, to 
promote by such measures as the committee shall 
deem expedient legislation suitable to accomplish 
those ends, and report from time to time what action 
shall have been had in the premises. ' ' 

It was resolved that ^ ' the evangelical hymns as 
they stand in the English Prayer-Book — to wit, the 
Mcbgnificat^ the Song of Simeon^ and that of Zacha- 



OF THE AMERICAN CHL'BCH. 331 

7'ias — ^be added to the Hymnal at the end of the 
hjmns in metre." The boundaries of the jurisdic- 
tion of Niobrara and those of the dioceses of 
"Wisconsin and Fond du Lac were shghtlj changed. 
Tables of Lessons were set forth and permitted to 
be used as alternative for the lessons now appointed 
in the Prayer-Book Lectionary. A Canon, to be 
numbered Canon 12 of Title 11. , '' On the Godly 
Discipline of the Laity," was referred to the next 
Convention. 

The following minute was placed upon the 
records of the House of Bishops : 

** A meeting of Bishops having ecclesiastical jurisdiction, 
duly convened, aud acting under [3], Section XVI., Canon 15, 
Title I., of tlie Digest, was held August 28th, 1878, and on 
several successive days by adjournment. 

*' On September 8d a majority of all the Bishops recognized 
in the Canon as above quoted being present and acting, the 
Presiding Bishup presented the resignation by the Rt. Rev. 
Samuel A. McCoskry, Bishop of Michigan, of his jurisdiction 
and office. The same v^as referred to a committee, and, after 
their report, w^as unanimously accepted, and the bishopric of 
the Diocese of Michigan declared to be vacant. 

"(Signed) Alfred Lee, 

" Presiding in the Bouse of Bisliops.'^ 

The House of Bishops ordered, the publication of 
the following : 

COVENANT. 

" In the Name of the Most Holy aud Undivided Trinity, 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Amen. 
" The following Covenant or Articles of Agreement, Concord 
and Union, betw^een the Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the United States of America, of the first part, and 
the Mexican Branch of the Catholic Church of our Lord Jesus 



332 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

Christ, Militant upon earth, of the second part, establishes the 
ensuing stipulations, mutually entered into by the two 
Churches aforesaid : 

ARTICLE I. 

" The Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 
United States of America, in consideration of the fact that 
nearly all the clergy and members of the said Mexican Church 
owe no allegiance to the Government of the United States of 
America, but are Mexican citizens, do hereby recognize the 
aforesaid Mexican Branch of the Catholic Church of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, Militant upon earth, as of right, as also in point 
of fact, a Foreign Church, to all intents and purposes within 
the meaning of the Tenth Article of the Constitution of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. 

" But while the aforesaid Bishops of the Protestant Episco- 
pal Church in the United States do thus recognize the said 
Mexican Church to be a Foreign Church, yet during its early 
growth and development it shall continue to enjoy the nurs- 
ing care of the Protestant Episcopal Church in tlie United 
States, until the said Mexican Church shall attain to a 
sufficiency in its Episcopate for the administration of its own 
affairs, according to the requirements of the ancient canons 
and primitive usages of the Church of Christ. 

ARTICLE II. 

" The Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 
United States, acting under the aforesaid Tenth Article of the 
Constitution, and relying upon the stipulations contained in 
the following Articles of the Covenant, agree to consecrate to 
the office of Bishop one or more persons duly elected by the 
said Mexican branch of the Catholic Church of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, Militant upon earth, after receiving satisfactory evi- 
dence of their election by the said Church, and of their fitness 
and qualifications for such a high and holy vocation. 

ARTICLE III. 

" The Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUKCH. 333 

United States furthermore agree to name from among them- 
selves a commission of seven Bishops with whom the aforesaid 
Bishop or Bishops to he consecrated for the said Mexican 
Church shall be associated as a temporary Board of Adminis- 
tration for the Episcopal government of the said Mexican 
Church. A majority of the same shall he competent to take 
order for the consecration of future Bishops of said Church, 
as the necessity may arise in the demand of said Church. The 
said temporary Board of Administration shall be furthermore 
empowered to administer all the discipline pertaining to the 
Episcopal Order of the Ministry of said Church, until at least 
three Bishops shall be elected, consecrated, and canonically 
established in the said Church ; it being understood that the 
temporary Board of Administraticm shall be governed in the 
exercise of their Episcopal administration, judgments, and 
acts, by the provisions contained in the Constitution and 
Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States 
of America, so far as the same can be applied to the divergent 
circumstances of the said Mexican Church, and are consistent 
with its rights and privileges as a distinct National Church. 

ARTICLE IV. 

" The Mexican branch of the Catholic Church of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, Militant upon earth, assures and certifies the 
Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United 
States that it receives the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New 
Testaments, including all the books called canonical, as they 
are enumerated in the Sixth Article of Religion of the Protes- 
tant Episcopal Church (excluding those commonly called 
apocryphal) as the Word of God, and containing all things 
necessary to salvation ; that it prof esses the Catholic and Apos- 
tolic Faith as set forth in the words of the Apostles* and Nicene 
Creeds ; that it receives and observes the two Sacraments of 
Baptism and the Supper of the Lord, ordained by Christ Him- 
self, and none others ; that it holds that, from the Apostles' 
times, there have been these Orders of the Ministry, Bishops, 
Presbyters, and Deacons, and desires to perpetuate them for 
itself ; that it rejects the errors, novelties, and superstitions of 
the Church of Rome, as the same are set forth and rejected by 



3S4: THE GENERAL CONVENTION" 

the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States in her 
Articles of Religion, as well as such as have been introduced 
since the date of framing such Articles ; and the said Mexican 
Cliuich further covenants not to receive or establish any doc- 
trines or articles of belief contrary to the doctrines held by tLe 
Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, and set 
forth in its formularies. 

ARTICLE V. 

" The Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church further- 
more agree to consider such testimonials of character and qual- 
ification for the Episcopate sufficient in form as shall be equiv- 
alent to the formulated testimonials required by the Bishops of 
the Church of England, before they conveyed the Episcopate 
to this Church. 

ARTICLE VI. 

" (1.) And fox the preservation of the common faith and of 
the doctrines of the Lord Jesus, the said Mexican Church binds 
itself to prepare a Service Book for Public Worship, and for 
the administration of Confirmation and other sacred rites, the 
Apostles' Creed and the Creed commonly called Nicene being 
therein included ; the said Service Book to conform in its 
essential features to the formularies of Primitive and Apostolic 
Churches, and to be approved by the Commission of Bishops 
in this Covenant established ; and the said Church further 
binds itself to require a profession of faith in the terms of the 
creeds aforesaid as a condition for admission to Holy Orders. 

" (2.) And the said Mexican Church in her office for the Ad- 
ministration of Holj^ Baptism, will preserve such a due scrip- 
tural presentation of the authority and intent of that sacrament, 
with the use of the matter and form prescribed by our Divine 
Lord and Master, as shall be satisfactory to the Bishops of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church, or to the Commission of Bishops 
by them appointed, 

" (3.) And in her office for the Administration of the Lord's 
Supper, the said Mexican Church will preserve such liturgical 
forms as are essential thereto ; that is to say, particularly a due 
scriptural presentation of the authority and intent of that sac- 
rament, with the use of the matter and form prescribed by 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUKCH. 335 

our Divine Master and Lord, and with such further provisions 
as shall render said office conformable to the general outline 
and spirit of the Primitive Liturgies iu the judgment of the 
Bishops aforesaid, or of the Commission of Bishops by them 
appointed. 

" 3. Resolved, That the commission to be appointed for that 
purpose (namely, what is now commonly known as the Mexi- 
can Commission) is hereby empowered to correspond with the 
representatives of the Mexican branch of the Catholic Church 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, Militant upon earth, in oider to the 
final ratification of the afore- recounted Articles of Agreement. 

" 4. Resolved, That when such ratification shall have taken 
place, the commission aforesaid is hereby empowered to re- 
ceive, examine, and report to the Presiding Bishop upon the 
evidences of election, and testimonials of qualifications of the 
person or persons presented by the synodical authority of the 
Mexican branch and for Ordination to the Episcopate. 

" 5. Resolved, That the Presiding Bishop is hereby requested 
and empowered when he shall have received any such report 
from the said commission, to take order for the consecration 
of such person or persons as may be reported to him by said 
commission as duly elect and qualified." 

It was reported that under this " Covenant," the 
Bishop-elect of the Yallej of Mexico, Dr. H. C. 
Riley, had been consecrated, and that a tentative 
liturgy had been introduced which required amend- 
ment to bring it in accordance with the terms and 
spirit of Article YI. of the Covenant. The Com- 
mission was re-constituted as follows — viz., the 
•Bishops of Delaware, Connecticut, Ohio, Pennsyl- 
vania, Western New York, Pittsburgh, Long Island, 
and Albany, and the following resolution adopted : 

' ' Resolved, That the Bishops are in accord with the Bishops 
of said commission in the policy they suggest touching the 
future administration of the matters in question, and do accord- 
ingly heartily concur with the said commission in their judg- 
ment, that no order should be taken for the consecration of an- 



336 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

other Bishop in Mexico, until the Bishop already consecrated 
shall have actually entered upon his work, and until the terms 
of the Covenant tuuchiag the preparation of a Liturgy shall 
have been duly complied with, and until the approbation of a 
majority of the Bishops of this Church to any such consecra- 
tion shall have been signified to the Presiding Bishop, that he 
may take order for the same." 

In the commendation of work among the colored 
people, and the adoption of a scheme of systematic 
beneficence for missionary offerings ; in the consid- 
eration of the grave questions of provinces, of the 
tenure of church property and of graduated repre- 
sentation in the General Convention ; in the discus- 
sion of the subjects of Appellate Courts and further 
legislation respecting divorce ; in the refusal to ad- 
mit Dakota as a diocese, and to sanction the elec- 
tion of an Assistant Bishop for Yirginia ; in the de- 
bates with reference to the proposed revision of the 
Bible and the important questions respecting Dea- 
conesses and Sisterhoods, the Convention showed its 
wisdom quite as much in its failure to act as in its 
direct legislation. Party spirit found no opportu- 
nity for its display ; and in practical work and mat- 
ters pertaining to the spiritual good and growth of 
the Church the days of this important session were 
passed. The ' ^ Pastoral ' ' read at the close of the 
session reiterated the lessons of practical godliness 
so often enjoined in these apostolic letters, and 
urged upon the members of our communion to 
make fresh efforts to enter in and possess the land 
for Christ and His Church. With its closing words 
of benediction the General Convention of 1880 ad- 
journed sine die. 



OF THE AMERICAN CHUllCH. 337 



THE CONYENTIOK OF 1883. 

The next trienuial General Convention will 
meet in tlie city of Philadelphia at a period in 
the history of the American Church confessedly 
epochal. Its assembling will mark the centennial 
of the meeting of the Connecticut clergy in the 
spring of 1T83, at which the apostolic Seabury was 
chosen to seek abroad the Episcopate, which the 
Mother Church of England had for a century persist- 
ently refused to bestow upon the Colonial Church. 
It also marks the completion of a hundred years 
since in Maryland, at a convention of clergy under 
the leadership of the celebrated Dr. William Smith, 
measures for organization were taken, and the 
leading spirit of them all was designated by his 
brethren to the Episcopate he was never to receive. 
The little one has become a great people, and the 
American Church, after a century of independent 
and autonomous life, enters npon its second hun- 
dred years with the purpose and the prospect of be- 
coming in fact as well as in name the Church of the 
nation. With added influence and increasing 
opportunities, fresh responsibilities are of necessity 
connected. The Convention will have to meet at 
the outset the grave questions which will be brought 
to its attention in the report of the Joint Commit- 
tee on Liturgical Enrichment, proposing a flexibility 



o38 THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

in tlie use, and increase in tlie number, of our for- 
mularies, wliicli cannot fail to elicit abundant discus- 
sion and compel tlie most patient thought. The 
relations of rectors and vestries will demand careful 
consideration, in view of the all but universal admis- 
sion that there now exist between the pastor and his 
people grounds of difference of the most serious 
and portentous nature. The question of securing a 
Bishop for each Territory will also demand consid- 
eration, and will doubtless receive favorable action. 
The subject of the validity of Moravian Orders will 
form the subject of a carefully considered report, 
which is awaited with no little interest. The revision 
of the course of theological study, and the cumber- 
some and somewhat inconsistent canons of ordination 
will, it is to be hoped, be definitely acted upon. 
The canon on the Godly Discipline of the Laity, 
referred to this Convention by the last, and offer- 
ing the results of the most patient examination and 
consideration of the House of Bishops during 
several days' debate, will be again considered. 
Final action will be had on the provision for Short- 
ened Services by means of an amendment to the 
form of ratification of the Book of Common Prayer. 
The legislation reported by the joint committee on 
the subject of prohibited degrees of affinity and 
kindred, will receive attention. The canon pro- 
posed by the last Convention on the subject of 
Episcopal Resignations will be discussed. The 
canon, ^' Of Organized Religious Societies within 
the Church, " to be numbered Canon 6 of Title III. , 
which was adopted by the House of Bishops, but 



OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH, 339 

failed of consideration at tlie hands of the lower 
House, will be considered. The revision of the 
Bible will again claim the notice of the Convention. 
The whole matter of joint resolutions will be 
brought before the two Houses, and the question 
'' whether the day on which the House of Bishops 
sits as a part of the Board of Missions, is to be con- 
sidered as one of the three days in which the House 
can consider the action coming to it from the House 
of Deputies. " Provision will also be made "for 
the full and proper observance of the centennial an- 
niversaries of the consecrations of the first Bishops 
of Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and New York, and 
the com2)letion of the organization of the General 
Convention, the ratification of our Book of Com- 
mon Prayer, and the adoption of the Constitution 
of the Church," and also " for such general observ- 
ances of these important anniversaries, and such 
general thank-offerings to Almighty God, for His 
great goodness to us as a Church and a people, as 
shall mark the period embracing the years 1883 to 
1889 as an epoch of grateful praise and beneficence 
to be ever memorable in the history of the Church 
of Christ." 

We may reasonably anticipate that the exciting 
questions which have occupied the time of the Con- 
vention prior to the last, to the exclusion of many 
important matters of a practical nature, will not be 
made prominent in this interesting meeting of the 
Church. The active and aggressive nature of the 
last Convention, its earnest missionary spirit, and 
the impetus given by its debates and measures to the 



340 THE GENERAL CONVENTION. 

Clmrch's advance, give ns hope that the centennial 
session of Convention will prove equally fruitful in 
its practical results and in the adoption of wise 
measures for the advancement of the cause of 
Christ. 

In view of the importance of these triennial gath- 
erings, who of the members of the Church will not 
devoutly pray to Him who by His Holy Spirit did 
preside in the councils of the blessed Apostles, and 
who has promised through His Son our Lord Jesus 
Christ to be with His Church to the end of the 
world, that this Council of the Church may be saved 
" from all error, ignorance, pride, and prejudice," 
and so directed, sanctified, and governed in their 
work '' that the comfortable gospel of Christ may 
be truly preached, truly received, truly followed in 
all places, to the breaking down the kingdom of 
sin, Satan, and death." 



APPENDIX. 341 



APPENDIX. 



I. 

SUMMARY OF STATISTICS OF CHURCH PROGRESS. 

'No summaries are appended to the Journals prior 
to the year 1832. From that date they have, with 
more or less accuracy in detail, been furnished, and 
are here reproduced, giving, as they do, the items 
of Church progress for nearly half a century — 1829- 

isn. 

1832. 

Clergy reported in 18 Dioceses 592 

( Adults in 14 Dioceses 3,394 ) 

Baptisms, ^ Infants in 14 Dioceses 19,188 [ 23,127 

( Not specified in 2 Dioceses. . 595 ) 

CommunicantB added in 12 Dioceses 8,735 

Total of Communicants in 16 Dioceses 30,939 

Marriages in 13 Dioceses 5,449 

Burials in 13 Dioceses 11,060 

Sunday-school Teachers in 10 Dioceses 1,743 

Sunday-school Scholars in 14 Dioceses 24,218 



1835. 

Clergy in 19 Dioceses 763 

( Adults in 11 Dioceses 2,021 ) 

Baptisms, ] Infants in 11 Dioceses 10,371 V 21,849 

( Not specified in 9 Dioceses. . . 9,457 ) 

Communicants added in 6 Dioceseri. 2,136 

Total of Communicants in 19 Dioceses 36,416 

Marriages in 11 Dioceses 5,436 

Burials in 11 Dioceses 8,774 

Sunday-school Teachers in 9 Dioceses. 3,059 

Sunday-school Scholars in 11 Dioceses 28,661 



342 APPENDIX. 



1838. 

Clergy in 25 Dioceses 951 

i Adults in 12 Dioceses 2,522 ) 

Baptisms, -j Infants in 12 Dioceses 14,964 [• 18,758 

( Not specified in 2 Dioceses... 1,372 ) 

Communicants added in 4 Dioceses 7,280 

Total of Communicants in 23 Dioceses 45,930 

Marriages in 13 Dioceses 5,719 

Burials in 13 Dioceses 10,588 

Sunday-school Teachers in 9 Dioceses 4,367 

Sunday-school Scholars in 13 Dioceses 39,443 



1841. 

Clergy in 25 Dioceses 1,053 

( Adults in 14 Dioceses. . .... 4,729 ) 

Baptisms, < Infants in 14 Dioceses 22,496 V 34,465 

( Not specified in 9 Dioceses . . 7,240 ) 

Communicants added in 9 Dioceses . . . , 3,678 

Total of Communicants in 25 Dioceses 55,427 

Marriages in 17 Dioceses 8,604 

Burials in 14 Dioceses , . . . 14,961 

Sunday school Teachers in 10 Dioceses 3,974 

Sunday-school Scholars in 11 Dioceses 32,265 



1844. 

Clergy in 24 Dioceses (Number in 3 Dioceses not 

reported) 1,096 

( Adults in 19 Dioceses 7,807 ) 

Baptisms, < Infants in 19 Dioceses 30,254 V 39,119 

( Not specified in 3 Dioceses.. 1,058) 

Communicants added in 12 Dioceses 12,490 

Total of Communicants in 26 Dioceses 72,099 

Marriages in 17 Dioceses 8,036 

Burials in W Dioceses 14,330 

Sunday-school Teachers in 13 Dioceses 5,037 

Sunday-school Scholars in 14 Dioceses 40,012 



APPENDIX. 343 

1847. 

Clergy in 28 Dioceses 1,404 

( Adults in 21 Dioceses 4,408 ) 

Baptisms, •] Infants in 21 Dioceses 23,551 V 83,774 

( Not specified in 7 Dioceses. . 5,815 ) 

Communicants in 27 Dioceses 67,550 

Marriages in 19 Dioceses 6,826 

Burials m 19 Dioceses 12,814 

Sunday-school Teachers in 16 Dioceses 5,279 

Sunday-school Scholars in 18 Dioceses 39,437 

Clergy deceased in 15 Dioceses . 34 



1850. 

Clergy in 29 Dioceses 1,558 

( Adults in 24 Dioceses 5,957) 

Baptisms, ^ Infants in 24 Dioceses 33,072 [• . . . 42,925 

( Not specified in 4 Dioceses. 3,896) 

Communicants in 28 Dioceses 79,987 

Marriages in 20 Dioceses 3,420 

Burials in 20 Dioceses 16,233 

Sunday-school Teachers in 17 Dioceses 4,520 

Sunday-school Scholars in 19 Dioceses 38,603 

Clergy deceased in 16 Dioceses 43 



1853. 

Clergy in 30 Dioceses 1,651 

{Infants in 24 Dioceses. '. 89,565 ) 

Adults in 24 Dioceses 6,531 [ 48,157 
Not specified in 4 Dioceses.. 2,061 ) 

Communicants in 30 Dioceses 105,136 

Marriages in 24 Dioceses 12,974 

Burials in 24 Dioceses 23,558 

Sunday-school Teachers in 18 Dioceses 5,531 

Sunday-school Scholars in 22 Dioceses 62,376 

Clergy deceased in 18 Dioceses • . . 43 

Number of Churches in 7 Dioceses 454 

Number of Parishes, and Congregations in 22 Dioceses 1,150 



344 APPENDIX. 

1856. 

Clergy in 31 Dioceses 1,828 

{Infants in 26 Dioceses 56,132 ) 

Adults in 26 Dioceses 9,542 I 70,527 
Not specified in 4 Dioceses. . . 4,853 ) 

Communicants in 31 Dioceses 119,540 

Marriages in 30 Dioceses 21,334 

Burials in 30 Dioceses 36,925 

Sunday-school Teachers in 20 Dioceses 9,235 

Sunday-school Scholars in 25 Dioceses 82,014 

Clergy deceased in 22 Dioceses 58 

Number of Churches in 6 Dioceses 335 

Number of Parishes in 29 Dioceses 1,825 



1859. 

Clergy in 33 Dioceses 2,065 

-n„ .. ^^ i Infants in 33 Dioceses 74,553 ) q^ ooo 

Baptisms, ^ ^^^^^^ ^^ 33 j^.^^^^^^ j^;^^^ j. . . . . 89,282 

Communicants in 33 Dioceses 139,611 

Marriages in 32 Dioceses 21,225 

Burials in 32 Dioceses 37,021 

Sunday school Teachers in 27 Dioceses 14,019 

Sunday-school Scholars in 31 Dioceses 113,912 

Clergy deceased in 22 Dioceses 75 

Number of Churches in 27 Dioceses 1,395 

Number of Parishes in 33 Dioceses 2,120 

1862. 

Clergy in 23 Dioceses 2,286 

■Rov.+ia^o i Infants in 23 Dioceses. . . . 60,449 ) „-t rqq 

Baptisms, -j ^^^^^^ .^ 33 D^^ceses 11.084 \"" ^^'^^^ 

Communicants in 23 Dioceses 124,340 

Marriages in 22 Dioceses 17,028 

Burials in 22 Dioceses 33,095 

Sunday-school Teachers in 22 Dioceses 3,897 

Sunday-school Scholars in 22 Dioceses 123,011 

Clergy deceased in 16 Dioceses 52 

Number of Churches in 17 Dioceses 1,144 

Number of Parishes in 22 Dioceses 1,728 



APPENDIX. 345 

1865. 

Clergy in 33 Dioceses 2,450 

! Infants in 34 Dioceses 66,954 ) 

Adults in 24 Dioceses 13,153 y 80,621 
Not specified in 1 Diocese. . . 514 ) 

Communicants in 24 Dioceses 148,068 

Marriages in 24 Dioceses 20,836 

Burials in 24 Dioceses 45,836 

Sunday-scliool Teachers in 18 Dioceses 14,728 

Sunday-school Scholars in 19 Dioceses 132,588 

Number of Churches in 17 Dioceses 1,230 

Number of Parishes in 20 Dioceses 1,687 

Contributions in 21 Dioceses $6,471,669 20 



1868. 

Number of Dioceses'* 35 

Number of Bishops and Clergy. 2,662 

Number of Lay Readers Licensed in 1866-8 in 12 Dio- 
ceses 133 

Present Number of Lay Readers Licensed in 20 Dio- 
ceses 268 

Number of Candidates for Holy Orders admitted 1866-8 

in 21 Dioceses 333 

Present Number of Candidates in 31 Dioceses 349 

Deacons Ordained 1866-8 in 31 Dioceses 312 

Presbyters Ordained 1866-8 in 33 Dioceses 281 

Number without Cure 1868 in 26 Dioceses 216 

Number of Parishes Organized 1866-8 in 26 Dioceses . . 198 
Present Number of Parishes reported in 32 Dioceses, . 2,299 
Present Number of Churches and Chapels in 27 Dio- 
ceses 1,857 

( Infants 1866-8 in 31 Dioceses 77,869 ) 

Baptisms, ^ Adults 1866-8 in 31 Dioceses 18,394 [■ 99,720 

( Not specified in 4 Dioceses. . 3,457 ) 

Confirmations 1866-8 in 33 Diocese§. 59,940 

Marriages 1866-8 in 34 Dioceses .,..,,.... 30,200 



* Four additional Dioceses were create^ by action of this Convention^ 
the statistics of which are inchided iu the reports of the Dioceses front 
which they were made. 



546 APPENDIX. 

Burials 1866-8 in 34 Dioceses 48,542 

Commanicants added 1866-8 in 22 Dioceses 53,049 

Communicants 1868 in 34 Dioceses 195,183 

Sundaj-school Teachers 1868 in 29 Dioceses 21,4'''8 

Sunday-scliool Scholars 1868 in 33 Dioceses 188,132 

Number of Parish Schools 1868 in 21 Dioceses 183 

Amount of Contributions 1866-8 in 35 Dioceses. $11,291,655 00 
Number Parishes not reporting to Convention 1866-8 in 

11 Dioceses. .. ..• 315 

1871. 

Number of Dioceses* 40 

Number of Bishops and Clergy 2,876 

Present Number of Lay Readers Licensed in 28 Dio- 
ceses and 4 Missionary Districts 536 

Number of Candidates for Holy Orders admitted 1868- 

71 in 40 Dioceses and 2 Missionary Districts 609 

Present Number of Candidates in 39 Dioceses and 4 

Missionary Districts 462 

Deacons Ordained 1868-71 in 40 Dioceses and 1 Mis- 
sionary District 378 

Priests Ordained 1868-71 in 39 Dioceses and 4 Mission- 
ary Districts 301 

Clergy without Cure in 38 Dioceses and 2 Missionary 
Districts (no reports from New York and Pennsyl- 
vania) 272 

Clergy receiving Missionary Stipends in 32 Dioceses 

and 6 Missionary Districts 521 

Number of Parishes Organized 1868-71 in 38 Dioceses 

and 2 Missionary Districts 257 

Whole Number of Parishes in 40 Dioceses and 6 Mis- 
sionary Districts 2,767 | 

Number of Missions in 28 Dioceses and 4 Missionary 

Districts 626 

Churches Consecrated 18G8-7L in 36 Dioceses and 2 Mis- 
sionary Districts 241 

* One additional Diocese was created by action of this Convention, the 
statistics of whicli are includea in that of Pennsylvania, from which the 
Diocese was made. 



APPENDIX. 347 

Whole Number of Churclies and Chapels Cctober 1, 

1871, in 40 Dioceses and 8 Missionary Districts 2,845 

Number of Rectories in 34 Dioceses and 5 Missionary- 
Districts (no reports from Alabama, Florida, Illi- 
nois, Long Island, Massachusetts, and New York). 731 

Value of Churches and Chapels as reported by 16 Dio- 
ceses and 4 Missionary Districts (no reports from 
Albany, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Dela- 
ware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, 
Long Island, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, 
Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, 
North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, 
South Carolina, and Virginia) $6,985,651 00 

Value of Rectories in 15 Dioceses and 2 Missionary 

Districts 1,244,025 00 

Value of Other Church Property in 14 Dioceses 

and 1 Missionary District 1,068,527 33 

Value of Church Property in 19 Dioceses and 7 
Missionary Districts (no reports from Arkan- 
sas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Flor- 
ida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Long Island, 
Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mis- 
souri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New 
York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, 
South Carolina, and Virginia ) 16,466,468 33 

Baptisms reported 1868-71 : 

Infants in 39 Dioceses and 4 Missionary 

Districts 92,274 

Adults in the same 22,476 

Not specified in 14 Dioceses 2,357 

Total Number Baptisms 1868-71 in 40 Dio- 
ceses and 5 Missionary Districts 117,269 

Confirmations 1868-71 in 40 Dioceses and 3 Missionary 

Districts : 70,396 

Marriages 1868-71 in 40 Dioceses and 5 Missionary 

Districts 30,867 

Burials 1868-71 in the same 50,843 

Communicants added in 33 Dioceses and 2 Missionary 

Districts 75,126 



348 APPENDIX. 

Communicants Lost by Death or Removal in 30 Dio- 
ceses and 1 Missionary District 34,496 

Wliole Number of Communicants in 40 Dioceses and 

7 Missionary Districts 336,929 

Number of Sunday-school Catechists or Teachers in 

86 Dioceses and 5 Missionary Districts 25,851 

Number of Catechumens in 39 Dioceses and 5 Mission- 
ary Districts 233,565 

Number of Parish Schools in 26 Dioceses and 2 Mis- 
sionary Districts (no reports from Arkansas, Con- 
necticut, Delaware. Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ken- 
tucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, 
New York, Ohio, Pennsylania) 210 

Number of Asylums for Orphans in 17 Dioceses and 1 

Missionary District 30 

Number of Church Hospitals in 13 Dioceses and 2 Mis- 
sionary Districts 17 

Number of Church Homes for the Aged and Infirm in 

17 Dioceses 22 

Offerings 1868-71 for Diocesan Missions in 34 

Dioceses $417,156 39 

Total Offerings for Religious Purposes in 38 Dio- 
ceses and 7 Missionary Districts 16,384,112 45 

1874. 

Number of Dioceses 41 

Number of Missionary Jurisdictions 8 

Number of Bishops and Clergy 3,086 ' 

Number of Lay Readers in 24 Dioceses and 6 Mission- 
ary Jurisdictions 598 

Number of Candidates for Holy Orders in 37 Dioceses 

and 5 Missionary Jurisdictions. ...... 333 

Deacons Ordained in 38 Dioceses and 4 Missionary 

Jurisdictions 410 

Priests Ordained in 38 Dioceses and 4 Missionary Juris- 
dictions 310 

Whole Number of Parishes in 38 Dioceses and 4 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions 2,741 

Number of Missions in 32 Dioceses and 5 Missionary 

Jurisdictions 918 



APPENDIX. 349 

Churches Consecrated in 37 Dioceses and 3 Missionary- 
Jurisdictions 304 

Whole number of Churches and Chapels in 34 Dioceses 

and 8 Missionary Jurisdictions 2,620 

Number of Rectories in 33 Dioceses and 5 Missionary 

Jurisdictions 763 

Baptisms reported 1871-74 : 

Infants in 39 Dioceses and 7 Missionary 

Jurisdictions 95,164 

Adults in same 22,120 

Total Baptisms 122,640 

Confirmations in 40 Dioceses and 7 Missionary Juris- 
dictions 73,270 

Marriages in 40 Dioceses and 7 Missionary Jurisdictions 33,052 

Burials in 39 Dioceses and 7 Missionary Jurisdictions. 59,738 

Communicants added in 23 Dioceses and 3 Missionary 

Jurisdictions 42,331 

Present Number of Communicants in 40 Dioceses and 

8 Missionary Jurisdictions 282,359 

Number of Sunday-school Teachers in 38 Dioceses and 

4 Missionary Jurisdictions 32,920 

Number of Sunday-school Scholars in 40 Dioceses and 

5 Missionary Jurisdictions. . , 301,587 

Number of Parish School Teachers in 23 Dioceses and 

4 Missionary Jurisdictions 2,500 

Number of Parish School Scholars in 24 Dioceses and 

5 Missionary Jurisdictions 36,943 

Number of CJiurch Hospitals in 17 Dioceses and 3 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions 34 

Number of Church Orphan Asylums in 20 Dioceses and 

1 Missionary Jurisdiction, 33 

Number of Church Homes in 17 Dioceses 25 

Number of Academic Institutions in 27 Dioceses and 2 

Missionary Jurisdictions 48 

Number of Collegiate Institutions in 16 Dioceses and 2 

Missionary Jurisdictions. 19 

Number of Theological Institutions in 15 Dioceses and 

2 Missionary Jurisdictions 17 

Communion Alms reported in 31 Dioceses and 1 

Missionary Jurisdiction $536,317 93 



350 APPENDIX. 

Episcopal Fund, Total Income in 35 Dioceses and 

1 Missionary Jurisdiction 442,136 20 

Diocesan Expenditures, Convention, etc., in 36 

Dioceses 199,564 21 

Offerings for Diocesan Missions in 35 Dioceses 

and 1 Missionary Jurisdiction 464,517 25 

Offerings for Domestic Missions in 34 Dioceses 

and 2 Missionary Jurisdictions 496,527 10 

Offerings for Home Missions for Colored People 

in 21 Dioceses and 1 Missionary Jurisdiction 34,494 62 
Offerings for Indian Missions in 16 Dioceses and 1 

Missionary Jurisdiction 64,472 23 

Offerings for Foreign Missions in 32 Dioceses and 

2 Missionary Jurisdictions 231,701 76 

Offerings for Education of the Ministry in 30 Dio- 

ceses 170,031 00 

Offerings for Aged and Infirm Clergy Fund in 24 

Dioceses and 1 Missionary Jurisdiction 125,522 02 

Offerings for Widows and Orphans of Clergy in 7 

Dioceses 35,398 33 

Offerings for Other and Miscellaneous Charities 

in 19 Dioceses 830,316 93 

Total of Charitable Offerings and Income in 39 

Dioceses and 7 Missionary Jurisdictions 11,622,836 77 

Total of Salaries and Parochial Expenses in 25 

Dioceses 6,400,167 88 

Total of Religious Contributions in 39 Dioceses 

and 7 Missionary Jurisdictions 17,964,024 65 

1877. 

Number of Dioceses 45 

Number of Missionary Jurisdictions 13 

Lay Readers in 33 Dioceses and 5 Missionary Juris- 
dictions 786 

Candidates for Holy orders in 42 Dioceses and 4 

Missionary Jurisdictions 376 

Deacons Ordained in 42 Dioceses and 4 Missionary 

Jurisdictions 363 

Priests Ordained in 43 Dioceses and 6 Missionary 

Jurisdictions 348 



APPENDIX. 351 

Bishops and Clergy in 43 Dioceses and 9 Mission- 
ary J urisdictions 3,082 

Parishes in 39 Dioceses and 6 Missionary Jurisdic- 
tions 2,*401 

Missions in 36 Dioceses and G Missionary Jurisdic- 
tions 959 

Cliurches Consecrated in 38 Dioceses and 7 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions 200 

Churclies and Chapels in 39 Dioceses and 9 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions 3,053 

Rectories in 88 Dioceses and 8 Missionary Jurisdic- 
tions 832 

[Infants in 41 Dioceses and 9 Mis-1 

Baptisms, \ "'^^"^"^ Jurisdictions. . . .101,847 " ^39^57 

I Adults in the same 25,302 j 

LNot Specified 2,608 J 

Confirmations in 43 Dioceses and 9 Missionary 

Jurisdictions 77,638 

Marriages in 42 Dioceses and 8 Missionary Juris- 
dictions 29,351 

Burials in 42 Dioceses and 8 Missionary Jurisdic- 
tions .. 61,200 

Communicants added in 29 Dioceses and 6 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions 33,299 

Communicants in 43 Dioceses and 9 Missionary 

Jurisdictions 397,387 

Sunday-School Teachers in 42 Dioceses and 7 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions 30,323 

Sunday-School Scholars in 43 Dioceses and 7 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions 250,984 

Parish-School Teachers in 22 Dioceses and 2 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions 817 

Parish-School Scholars in 20 Dioceses and 3 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions 10,647 

Church Hospitals in 20 Dioceses and 2 Missionary 

Jurisdictions 27 

Church Orphan Asylums in 20 Dioceses and 1 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdiction 30 

Church Homes in 21 Dioceses 34 



352 APPENDIX. 

Academic Institutions in 26 Dioceses and G Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions 81 

Collegiate Institutions in 13 Dioceses and 2 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions 14 

Theological Institutions in 15 Dioceses and 1 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdiction 16 

Communion Alms in 32 Dioceses and 3 Missionary 

Jurisdictions $551,892 87 

Episcopal Fund, Total Income in 40 Dioceses and 

2 Missionary Jurisdictions 438,348 86 

Diocesan Expenditures, Convention, etc., in 39 

Dioceses and 2 Missionary Jurisdictions 176,212 08 

Offerings for Diocesan Missions in 40 Dioceses and 

6 Missionary Jurisdictions 500,766 40 

Offerings for Domestic Missions in 37 Dioceses 

and 5 Missionary Jurisdictions 461,606 17 

Offerings for Home Missions for Colored People 

in 27 Dioceses and 1 Missionary Jurisdiction. . 35,280 77 

Offerings for Indian Missions in 24 Dioceses and 2 

Missionary Jurisdictions 74,374 80 

Offerings for Foreign Missions in 38 Dioceses and 

5 Missionary Jurisdictions 231,303 30 

Offerings for Education for the Ministry in 30 Dio- 
ceses and 1 Missionary Jurisdiction 129,604 05 

Offerings for Aged and Infirm Clergy Fund (in- 
cluding, in 7 Dioceses, the offerings for 
Widows and Orphans of Clergy) in 30 Dio- 
ceses and 1 Missionary Jurisdiction 142,265 62 

Offerings for Widows and Orphans of Clergy in 7 

Dioceses 53,835 67 

Offerings for Other and Miscellaneous Charities in 

33 Dioceses and 2 Missionary Jurisdictions. . 4,116,493 00 

Total of Charitable Offerings and Income (includ- 
ing, in three Dioceses, the amount of Salaries 
and Parochial Expenses) in 40 Dioceses and 6 
Missionary Jurisdictions 8,725,082 20 

Total of Salaries and Parochial Expenses in 31 

Dioceses and 4 Missionary Jurisdictions 11,025,418 78 

Total Offerings for Religious Purposes in 43 Dio- 
ceses and 9 Missionary Jurisdictions 21 ,535,506 58 



APPENDIX. 353 



1880. 



Number of Dioceses i 48 

Number of Missionary Jurisdictions. 13 

Lay Readers in 37 Dioceses and 7 Missionary 

Jurisdictions 951 

Candidates lor Holy Orders in 41 Dioceses and 7 

Missionary Jurisdictions 387 

Deacons Ordained in 46 Dioceses and 8 Missionary 

Jurisdictions 388 

Deacons in 47 Dioceses and 10 Missionary Juris- 
dictions 310 

Priests ordained in 45 Dioceses and 7 Missionary 

Jurisdictions 330 

Priests in 48 Dioceses and 13 Missionary Jurisdic- 
tions 2,982 

Whole Number of Clergy in 48 Dioceses and 13 

Missionary Jurisdictions. 3,355 

Parishes in 48 Dioceses and 7 Missionary Jurisdic- 
tions 2,917 

Missions in 41 Dioceses and 10 Missionary Juris- 
dictions. . . 1,295 

Corner-stones laid in 30 Dioceses and 4 Mission- 
ary Jurisdictions 97 

Churches Consecrated in 43 Dioceses and 7 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions /. 220 

Churches and Chapels in 46 Dioceses and 13 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions. 3,511 

Free Churches and Chapels in 29 Dioceses and 9 

Missionary Jurisdictions 1,233 

Rectories in 44 Dioceses and 10 Missionary Juris- 
dictions 1,091 

Families in 33 Dioceses and 6 Missionary Juris- 
dictions 101,724 

Number of Souls in 26 Dioceses and 5 Missionary 

Jurisdictions , . . . , , ,,. . , , , 255,470 



354 



APPENDIX. 



Infants in 45 Dioceses and 13 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions 109,214 

Adults in 45 Dioceses and 

^ . 12 Missionary Jurisdic- .„« „.^ 

Baptisms. ^ ^.^^^ 33 ^g^ !. 137.617 

Not specified in 3 Dioceses 
and 1 Missionary Juris- 
diction 4.934 

Confirmations in 48 Dioceses and 13 Missionary 

Jurisdictions 79,011 

Marriages in 48 Dioceses and 12 Missionary Juris- 
dictions 32,962 

Burials in 48 Dioceses and 13 Missionary Juris- 
dictions 65,282 

Communicants added in 29 Dioceses and 6 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions 57,304 

Communicants died in 26 Dioceses and 4 Mission- 
ary Jurisdictions 7,752 

Communicants in 48 Dioceses and 13 Missionary 

Jurisdictions 344,789 

Sunday-School Teachers in 46 Dioceses and 9 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions 31,304 

Sunday-School Scholars in 47 Dioceses and 13 

Missionary Jurisdictions 287,253 

Parish-School Teachers in 25 Dioceses and 7 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions 920 

Parish-School Scholars in 24 Dioceses and 8 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions 12,287 

Church Hospitals in 20 Dioceses and 4 Missionary 

Jurisdictions 33 

Church Orphan Asylums in 24 Dioceses and 2 

Missionary Jurisdictions 41 

Church Homes in 16 Dioceses 29 

Academic Institutions in 29 Dioceses and 9 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions 93 

Collegiate Institutions in 12 Dioceses and 3 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdictions .' 15 

Theological Institutions in 13 Dioceses and 3 

Missionary Jurisdictions 16 



APPENDIX. 355 

Other Institutions in 10 Dioceses . . 30 

Communion Alms in 40 Dioceses and 8 Missionary 

Jurisdictions $562,853 93 

Episcopal Fund, Total Income in 40 Dioceses and 

2 Missionary Jurisdictions 495,430 91 

Diocesan Expenditures, Convention, etc., in 42 

Dioceses and 2 Missionary Jurisdictions 216,680 12 

Offerings for Diocesan Missions in 48 Dioceses and 

4 Missionary Jurisdictions 506,832 83 

Offerings for Domestic Missions (of which in 21 
Dioceses, $20,087.19 were specified for Home 
Missions for the Colored People, and in 21 
Dioceses, $43,843.41 were specified for Indian 
Missions) in 44 Dioceses and 6 Missionary 
Jurisdictions 515,917 61 

Offerings for Foreign Missions in 38 Dioceses and 

6 Missionary Jurisdictions 274,163 45 

Offerings for Education for the Ministry in 31 

Dioceses 101,217 44 

Offerings for Aged and Infirm Clergy (including, 
in 9 Dioceses, the offerings for Widows and 
Orphans of Clergy) in 45 Dioceses and 1 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdiction 135,296 70 

Offerings for Widows and Orphans of Clergy in 13 

Dioceses and 1 Missionary Jurisdiction 67,251 79 

Offerings for Other and Miscellaneous Charities in 

30 Dioceses and 4 Missionary Jurisdictions,.. 1,983,285 96 

Total of Charitable Offerings and Income in 45 

Dioceses and 5 Missionary Jurisdictions 6,602,203 67 

Total of Salaries and Parochial Expenses in 39 

Dioceses and 6 Missionary Jurisdictions 10,485,935 71 

Total Offerings for Religious Purposes in 48 Dio- 
ceses and 13 Missionary Jurisdictions 20,251,824 94 

Parishes not reporting in 23 Dioceses and 1 Mis- 
sionary Jurisdiction 217 



356 APPENDi:2L. 



APPENDIX, 



11. 

RULES OF ORDER— HOUSE OF BISHOPS. 



Adopted 1859. Amended 1862, 1868, 1871, 1874, 1877, 
and 1880. 



FIRST DAY'S SESSIONS. 

1. The House shall meet for business immediately after 
the opening Divine Services of the General Convention, and 
ishall be called to order by the J^residing Bishop, or, in his 
absence, by the Senior Bishop present. 

2. Any Bishop appearing in the House of Bishops for the 
first time after his consecration shall then be presented to the 
President by one or more Bishops, and if such be present, by 
one or more Bishops who took part in his consecration. 

3. The Roll of Meml)ers shall be called by the Secretary, or 
the Assistant Secretary of the session of the House last pre- 
ceding, or, in their absence, by a Secretary appointed pro tern. 

4. If any member or members of the House shall have died 
since its last meetino-, the Presiding Bishop shall then an- 
nounce, without word or comment, the fact, and the date of 
such death, after which he shall say the Collect for All Saints' 
Day. 

5. The House shall then proceed to elect a Secretary. If 
but one candidate be nominated, the election shall be viva voce. 
If more than one, by ballot. 

6. With the approbation of the Presiding OflBcer, the Secre- 
tary may, at any period of the session, appoint an Assistant 
Secretary. 

DAILY ORDER. 

I. Attendance, with the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, 
on the Morning Service of the Church. 

II. The House shall meet for business one hour after t])e 



APPENDIX. 357 

hour appointed for the said Morning Service, unless otherwise 
ordered at the previous adjournment. When the President shall 
have taken the chair, new members may be introduced, as on 
the first day. The roll shall then be called, alter which the 
House shall be bidden to prayer by the President. The min- 
utes of the last meetinor shall then be read by the Secretary, 
and acted upon by the House. 

in. On the second day of the session, after prayers, the 
Presiding Bishop shall lay before the House a statement of his 
oflftcial acts during the recess of the General Convention. 

IV. The business of the House shall be disposed of in the 
order following : 

a Communications from the President. 
h Petitions and Memorials. 

c Messages from the House of Deputies not yet disposed of. 
d Reports from Standing Committees, in the order in which 
the Committees are named in the First General Rule. 
e Reports from Special Committees. 
/ Miscellaneous business. 

V. The Order of the Day shall be taken up at the hour ap- 
pointed, unless postponed by a vote of two thirds of the mem- 
bers present. 

It shall be the duty of the Secretary to prepare and place 
upon the table in front of his desk, each morning after the 
opening of the House, a Calendar of all Orders of the Day not 
yet discharged. 

VI. Bishops invited to honorary seats may he introduced to 
the President whenever no other business occupies the House. 

GENERAL RULES. 

I. As an indication of our humble dependence upon the 
Word and Spirit of God, and following the example of Primi- 
tive Councils, a copy of the Holy Scriptures shall always be 
reverently placed in view at the meetings of this House. 

II. The Committees shall be appointed by the President un- 
less othervsrise ordered. The Bishop first named on the Com- 
mittee shall act as its chairman. The Standing Committees, 
to be announced not later than the third day of the session, 
shall be as follows : 

1. On the Admission of New Dioceses. 

2. On Consecration of Bishops. 

3. On Amendments to the Constitution. 

4. On Canons. 

5. On the General Theological Seminary. 

6. On Domestic Missions. 

7. On Foreign Missions. 

8. On the Prayer Book. 

9. On Memorials and Petitions. 



§58 APPENDIX. 

10. On Unfinished Business. 

11. On Despatch of Business. 

12. On Christian Education. 

13. A Committee to prepare a Pastoral Letter ; of which 
Committee the Presiding Bishop shall be chairman. 

Each of these Committees shall consist of not more than five 
nor less than three members, at the discretion of the President. 

III. No memorial, petition, or address shall come before this 
House, unless presented by tlie President, or some other 
Bishop present. 

IV. All resolutions shall be reduced to writinof ; and no 
motion shall be considered as before the House until seconded. 

V. Members in discussion shall address the Chair, and sliall 
confine themselves to the point in debate. No member shall 
speak more than twice in the same debate without leave of 
the House. 

VI. Every member present shall, on a division, be counted, 
unless personally interested in the question to be decided. 
When, in taking a question, the President's vote produces a 
tie, the motion shall be considered as lost. 

VII. The ayes and nays may be required by any three mem- 
bers, and shall in such cases be entered on the Journal. 

VII. When a question is under consideration, no motion 
shall be received unless to lay it upon the table, to postpone it 
to a certain time, to postpone it indefinitely, to commit it, to 
amend it, or to divide it ; and motions for any of these purposes 
shall have precedence in the order herein named. The motions 
to lay upon the table and adjourn shall be decided without de- 
bate. The motion to adjourn shall always be in order, 

IX. On motion, duly put and carried, the House may resolve 
itself into a Committee of the Whole, when a chairman of the 
same shall be elected. The Junior Bishop present shall act as 
Clerk of the Committee, and make a record of its action. 

X. Reports of Committees shall be in writinof, and shall be 
received, of course, and witliout motion, for acceptance, unless 
recommitted by vote of the House. Reports recommending or 
requiring any action or expression of opinion by the House 
shall be accompanied by specific resolutions. 

XI. Reports of Committees appointed to sit during the re- 
cess, if not acted upon at once, shall, when presented, be made 
the Order of the day for a time fixed. 

XII. All questions of order shall be decided by the Chair 
without debate, but appeal may be taken from such decision. 
On such appeal no member shall speak more than once without 
express leave of the House. 

XIII. Amendments shall be considered in the order in which 
they are moved. When a proposed amendment is under con- 
sideration, a motion to amend the same may be made. No 
after amendment to such second amendment shall be in order, 



APPENDIX. 359 



but a substitute for tbe wbole matter may be received. No 
])roposition on a subject differing from tbe one under considera- 
tion sball be received under color of a substitute. 

XIV. A question being once determined, sball stand as the 
judgment of the House, and shall not be aorain drawn into 
debate during the same session of the Convention, except vv^itli 
the consent of two thirds of the House. A motion to reconsider 
can only be made by one who voted with the majority on the 
previous determination of the question. 

XV. Messages from the House of Deputies shall be handed 
by the Secretary of this House to the President, to be laid 
before the House as early as may be convenient. Committees 
from the House of Deputies shall be admitted immediately. 

XVI. The Committee on ^Despatch of Business shall, each 
day, before the adjournment of the House, report any action of 
the House of Deputies which is liable to acquire the effect of 
law without the concurrence of this House. 

XVII. Two of the Bishops shall be appointed by the Chair to 
act with the Secretary in preparing daily reports of the action 
of the House, and furnishing them, at tlieir discretion, to public 
journalists. 

XVIII. Bishops admitted to hononary seats shall be conduct- 
ed to the seats assigned to them by the Bishops who introduce 
them ; and, except when privileged business is before the 
House, or when this House resolves itself into a Council of 
Bishops, shall at all times be entitled to be present. 

XIX. None of the Rules of Order shall be suspended with- 
out the concurrence of two thirds of the members present. 

XX. These Rules shall be in force, in subsequent sessions 
of this House, until otherwise ordered. 



STANDING ORDERS OF THE HOUSE OF BISHOPS. 

Adopted 1833. Amended 1877 and 1880. 

1. The Senior Bishop of the Church present at any General 
Convention is the Presiding Bishop in the House of Bishops. 

2. The Senior Bishop of this Church is the Presiding Bishop 
for all other purposes contained in the Canons. 

3. The Senior Bishop of this Church present at any Conse- 
cration of a Bishop is the Presiding Bishop of that solemnity, 
unless some other Bishop shall have been assigned to such 
service, on any special occasion, by the Presiding Bishop, or, in 
his absence, by the Bishops present at the Consecration. 

4. Seniority among the Bishops is according to the time of 
the Consecration of each Bishop. 



360 APPENDIX. 



RULES OF ORDER— HOUSE OF DEPUTIES. 



Adopted on tlie ninth day of the session, October 15, 1880, 
CHARLES L. HUTCHINS, Secretary. 



Title III., Canon I., § i. 

[4.] The Rules and Orders of the Hotise of Deputies shall be in force In 
the ensuing General Convention until the organization thereof, and until 
they be amended or repealed by the said House. 

1. The daily sessions of this House shall be opened with the 
Morning Service of the Church. 

2. When the President takes the chair, no member shall 
continue standing, or shall afterward stand up, except to ad- 
dress the Chair. 

3. When the President shall have taken the chair, the Roll 
of Members shall be called, and the Minutes of the preceding 
day read ; but the same may be dispensed with by a majority 
of the House, to be decided without debate. 

4. At the opening of the session the President shall appoint 
the following Standing Committees, to wit : 

I. On the State of the Church, to consist of one member 

from each Diocese ; and 
II. On the General Theological Seminary. 

III. On the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society. 

IV. On the Admission of New Dioceses. 
V. On the Consecration of Bishops. 

VI. On Amendments to the Constitution. 
VII. On Canons. 
VIII. On Expenses. 
IX. On Unfinished Business. 
X. On Elections. 
XI. On the Prayer Book. 
XII. On Education under the auspices and control of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church. 

XIII. On Memorials of Deceased Members. 
Each to consist of thirteen members. 

XIV. On Rules of Order, to consist of five members, to which 
Committee shall be referred without debate all proposed 
amendments to the Rules of Order. 

5. The Daily Order of Business shall be as follows : 

I. Reading the Minutes. 

II. Communications from the President. 



APPENDIX. 361 



III. Reports from Standing Committees, in the following 

order : 

1. On Elections. 

2. On the Admission of New Dioceses. 

3. On Rules of Order. 

4. On the Consecration of Bishops. 

5. On Amendments to the Constitution. 

6. On Canons. 

7. On the General Theological Seminary. 

8. On the State of the Church. 

9. On Expenses. 

10. On the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society. 

11. On the Prayer Book. 

12. On Education under the auspices and control of the 

Protestant Episcopal Church. 

13. On Unjfinished Business. 

14. On Memorials of •Deceased Members ; and 

15. Special Committees in the order of appointment. 

IV. Petitions and Memorials. 
V. Motions and Resolutions. 

VI. Business on the Calendar. 

6. The Secretary shall keep a Calendar of Business, on which 
reports from committees, resolutions which lie over, and other 
matters undisposed of , indicatinor the subject of each item, shall 
be placed in the order in which they are presented, a printed 
copy of which Calendar shall be furnished to each member. 

7. At twelve o'clock, unless there be an Order of the Day, or 
as soon thereafter as the Order of the Day shall be disposed of, 
the business on the Calendar shall be taken up and disposed of, 
in the order in which it stands thereon ; and a vote of two 
thirds of the members present shall be required to take up any 
matter out of its order on the Calendar, or to make any matter 
the Order of the Day for a particular time. 

8. A.11 propositions involviug expense shall be referred to the 
Committee on Expenses before being considered, except propo- 
sitions to print. 

9. All resolutions shall be reduced to writing, presented to 
the Secretary, and by him read to the House; and no motion 
shall be considered before the House unless seconded. 

10. If the question under debate contains several distinct 
propositions, the same shall be divided, at the request of any 
member, and a vote taken separately, except that a motion to 
strike out and insert shall be indivisible. 

11. When a question is under consideration, no motion shall 
be received, unless to lay it upon the table, to postpoiie it to a 
certain time, to postpone it indefinitely, to commit it, or to 
amend it ; and motions for any of these purposes shall have 
precedence in the order herein named. If a motion to lay on 
the table an amendment be carried, the matter before the 



362 APPENDIX. 



House shall be proceeded with as if no such amendmeut had 
been offered. The motions to lay upon the table and to ad- 
journ shall be decided without debate. The motion to ad- 
journ shall always be in order. 

13. There shall be no debate upon a resolution which pro- 
poses to refer any matter to a Committee, or upon a motion to 
recommit any subject which has been before a Committee. 
But the member who olBfers such a resolution or motion may 
speak five minutes for the purpose of explaining its object. 
And if objection be made to the consideration of a resolution 
designed for the action of the House, without reference to a 
Committee, it shall lie over, and come up the next day as un- 
finished business. But by a vote of two thirds of the members 
present, the House may at once consider the resolution. All 
messages from the House of Bishops communicating any leg- 
islative action on their part, shall, without debate, be referred 
to the proper Committee. 

13. All amendments shall be considered in the order in which 
they are moved. When a proposed amendment is under con- 
sideration, a motion to amend the same may be made. No 
after amendment to such second amendment shall be in order ; 
but when an amendment to an amendment is under consider- 
ation, a substitute to the whole matter may be received. No 
proposition on a subject different from the one under consider- 
ation shall be received under color of an amendment or substi- 
tute. 

14. In all questions decided numerically, the motion to re- 
consider must be made by one Deputy, and seconded by another 
who voted in the majority ; or, in case of equal division, by 
those who voted in the negative ; and in case of a vote by 
Orders, where there is a concurrence of both Orders, a motion 
to reconsider shall be made by a majority of a Deputation from 
any Diocese of either Order voting in the majority ; and in case 
of a non-concurrence of Orders, the motion to reconsider shall 
copie from a majority of a Deputation from a Diocese of that 
Order which gave the majority in the negative ; and in either 
case, a motion to reconsider shall be seconded by a majority of 
any Deputation of either Order, without regard to its previous 
vote. And all motions to reconsider shall be made and seconded 
on the day the vote is taken, or the next succeeding day. 

15. The Reports of all Committees shall be in writing, and 
shall be received of course, and without motion for acceptance, 
unless recommitted by a vote of the House. All Reports recom- 
mending or requiring any action or expression of opinion by 
the House shall be accompanied by a resolution for the action 
of the House therein. 

16. No new business shall be introduced for the consideration 
of the House after the twelfth day of its session, except by a 
vote of two thirds of the members present. 



APPENDIX. 363 



17. Whenever the election or confirmation of a Bishop is 
under consideration, the House shall sit with closed doors. 

18. All questions of order shall be decided by the Chair with- 
out debate ; but any member may appeal from such decision, 
and on such appeal no member shall speak more than once, 
without express leave of the House. 

19. The names of the movers of resolutions shall appear upon 
the Minutes of this House. 

20. Every member who shall be in the House when any 
question is put shall, on a division, be counted, unless he be 
personally interested in the question under consideration. 

21. While the President is putting any question, the mem- 
bers shall continue in their seats, and shall not hold any private 
discourse. 

22. When any member is about to speak or deliver any mat- 
ter to the House, he shall, with due respect, address himself to 
the President, confining himself strictly to the point in de- 
bate. 

23. No member shall speak more than twice in the same de- 
bate, nor longer than fifteen minutes at one time, without leave 
of the House. 

24. All Committees shall be appointed by the President, un- 
less otherwise ordered. 

25. When the House is about to rise, every member shall keep 
his seat until the President leaves his chair ; and before the 
President leaves the chair, he may make any communication 
to the House, or cause any notice to be read by the Secretary. 

26. No member shall absent himself from the service of the 
House unless he have leave, or be unable to attend. 

27. When memorials or petitions are presented, their con- 
tents shall be concisely stated by the Deputy presenting them, 
and they shall be referred or laid upon the table, unless by a 
majority vote the memorial or petition shall be ordered to be 
read. 

28. Reports of Committees appointed to sit during the recess, 
if not acted upon at once, shall, when presented, be made the 
Order of the day for a time fixed. 

39, No rule shall be suspended unless with the assent of two 
thirds of the members present. 



364 APrENUix. 



APPENDIX. 



III. 

The following Declaration was adopted unanimously by 
tlie House of Bishops at the General Convention of 1880 : 

A DECLARATION. 

Whereas, The Lambeth Conference of 1878 set forth the fol- 
lowing declaration, to wit : " We gladly welcome every effort 
for reform upon the mode of the primitive Church. We do not 
demand a rigid uniformity ; we deprecate needless divisions ; 
but to those who are drawn to us in the endeavor to free them- 
selves from the yoke of error and superstition we are ready to 
offer all help,and such privileges as maybe acceptable to them, 
imd are consistent with the maintenance of our own principles 
as enunciated in our formularies," which declaration rests upon 
two indisputable historical facts. 

Firsts That the body calling itself the Holy Roman Church, 
has, by the decrees of the Council of Trent in 1565, and by the 
dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, and by the decree 
of the infallibility of the Pope in 1870, imposed upon the con- 
sciences of all the members of the national churches under its 
sway, as of the faith, to be held as of implicit necessity to sal- 
vation, dogmas having no warrant in Holy Scripture or the 
ancient creeds, which dogmas are so radically false as to cor- 
rupt and defile the faith. 

And Second, That the assumption of a universal episcopate 
by the Bishop of Rome, making operative the definition of Papal 
infallibility, has deprived of its original independence the 
Episcopal order in the Latin churches, and substituted for it a 
Papal vicariate for the superintendence of dioceses, while the 
virtual change of the Divine constitution of the Church, as 
founded in the episcopate and the other orders, into a tridentine 



APPENDIX. 365 

consolidation, has destroyed the autonomy, if not the corporate 
existence, of national churches. 

Now, therefore, we. Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the United States of America, assembled in council 
as Bishops in the Church of God, asserting the principles de- 
clared in the Lambeth Conference, and in order to the maintain- 
ing of a true unity, which must be a unity in the truth, do 
hereby affirm that the great primitive rule of the Catholic 
Church.— rJSpiscopatus unus, cujus a singulis in solidum pars tene- 
tur — imposes upon the episcopates of all national churches 
holding the primitive faith and order, and upon the several 
Bishops of the same, not the right only, but the duty also, of 
protecting in the holding of that faith and the recovering of 
that order those who, by the methods before described, have 
been deprived of both. 

And further, the Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
in the United States of America assembled in Council, not 
meaning to dispute the validity of consecrations by a single 
consecrator, put on record their conviction that, in the organi- 
zation of reformed churches with which we may hope to have 
communion, they should follow the teachings of the Canons of 
Nicaea, and that when consecration cannot be had by three 
Bishops of the Province, Episcopal orders should at all events 
be conferred by three Bishops of national churches. 

Attest X IL C. Potter, Secretary . 



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